It's the end of the month again. And you haven't made enough sales, yet. Soon, you will need to foot out your bills, pay your suppliers, and ensure you compensate all your salespeople for their services.

Startup founder, app developer, entrepreneur, or a CEO all have one concern in common; How to convert leads into paying customers and increase sales in 2020 seeing how competitive the market is becoming?

You need a marketing strategy to help you convert your customers into buyers and push you from rags to riches.

Good news.

In this post, I'm going to provide best-in-class business solutions implemented by MBA graduates and world leaders that will help you increase sales, and grow your business.

But before we dive into the nitty-gritty of this post, let's start by outlining what you should never do when trying to convert your potential customers into buyers to make more sales.

That said, let's get started.

A Word of Caution - The Mistake With Sleazy Selling

The Internet has been the best thing that has ever happened since sliced bread. But why? Simple. You can research about a service or a product before waging your money on it. It has helped many make worthy decisions before purchasing.

But there's a problem. Marketers have now taken advantage of this and are using it to deceive you into buying deceptive products. Ads are everywhere, and you wonder whether you really need to be told what you want. Marketers are too pushy. They are too salesy. And customers can't take it anymore.

Customers have become smart over the years; they know what they want. This means that you need to practice permission marketing - you get approval from them before pitching your products and services to them.

Yes, that's it.

You don't need to be pushy, salesy, or sleazy with your marketing anymore. You need to start practicing marketing ethics - permission marketing. Offer pure gold to your customers, and you'll build an army of marketers. Customers who are loyal to you and can promote your products and services to their friends and relatives voluntarily.

Okay, enough of cautions and warnings. Let's now get down to business - how to convert your potential customers to buyers and increase your sales in 2020. 

So how is this connected to targeting your audience? Once you have attracted your customers, you need to segment them, depending on how you trapped them into your email list. By doing this, you can tailor every marketing campaign to meet their needs before you hit the 'send' button. And that will help you target the right people, which will, in turn, help you make more sales.

For example, Assuming I landed on a university's email list while trying to find the best MBA degree program. Maybe, they were offering a checklist of what you need before joining college and thought this would help me prepare adequately, so I hopped in. If the university has segmented all their email subscribers, it will help them send the right email campaigns to me. It wouldn't be a big deal even if they offered me a place at their university. After all, I had shown them that I had an interest in joining an MBA program.

In a nutshell, learn to segment your audience. Put them in their right segments. And this will depend on the email service provider you are using. 

 2. Give them irresistible offers (freebies, discounts)

Let's get real. Customers love free trials. They look forward to test-driving your products or services before they can commit. And that is why a ton of companies today offer their customers free trials of varying lengths.

But why do companies offer free trials of varying lengths?

• Gain customers trust
• Show confidence
• Get customers attention
• Allow product "sampling" 

3. Discover upsell and cross-sell opportunities

'Ninety percent of customer value for B2B businesses is obtained after the initial sale.'

"Customer who bought this item also viewed this"— This is one of the most popular cross-selling example by Amazon.

What about an upsell example?

JetBlue, for example, has made an addition of $140 million through its upsell program known as 'Even More Space.' But what's the difference between upselling and cross-selling?

Upsell is the process of encouraging a potential buyer to buy an item priced higher than what the customer already wants to purchase. In other words, upselling encourages customers to buy a more expensive item in the same item category. 

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On the other hand, cross-sell is when you recommend your customer to purchase a product that complements what they have already bought, but from a different segment. In other words, cross-selling tries to identify products that complement what the customer has already purchased. 

So how do you ensure you have an exceptional upsell and cross-sell strategy? Follow these steps:

• Have a journey-based approach - this is one of the best ways to find cross-selling opportunities using customer journey analytics.
• Create an omnichannel customer view - You can get a unified and single view of your customers by integrating your customers' data across a ton of systems.
• Leverage on predictive analytics - to see the likelihood of your customers to accept your cross-sell offers. 

4. Show it off (testimonials and case studies of happy buyers)

If you visit SmartBlogger's homepage, you'll see some proof. They are showing off their monthly estimated revenue - $100,000! Additionally, SmartBlogger is showing off the companies they have worked with, and what's the catch?

The companies they are listing are all million-dollar companies. Take a look: 

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Another good example is Clearscope, modern SEO software for content creators.

They are showing off their happy clients on their homepage. This is to tell you that they have managed to wow some of their clients, which can play a role in persuading you to try out their software.

Take a look at this: 

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One last example is showing off expertise and positioning your company as a thought leader.How do you do that? By showcasing your employees' success stories and degrees. Customers tend to do business with someone who have received a Master's degree, like an MBA or a Healthcare Administration Master's degree than someone with only a Bachelor'S degree.

In a nutshell, try to show off what you have achieved; social proof, case studies, and show off your employees' accomplishments. These do not just help you make more sales, but plays a significant role in establishing trust between you and potential customers.

Remember: Your Customers Love Good Stories

If you have read 'Building a Story Brand' by Donald Miller, then you should be aware that:

Your customers love good stories. Some people say that 'your hero's journey is etched into your psyche.' In other words, think of your customers as heroes facing a challenge and then be their solution. Next is to communicate the two different climax scenarios your customers are facing. Make them imagine how their life will look like if they implement your hacks, and what if they don't implement your tips.

And the good news is that a good story structure will make your message clear and precise. To convert your leads and increase your sales in 2020, you need to communicate well - tell a good story.

And that's it. Now it's time to get practical.