Tag Archive for Finding and selling to customers

Hot Business News Today

Sales commission structure for UK small business

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By Timothy Adler on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

You’re a small firm that has a proven B2B product to sell and the direct website sales to prove it. You’ve even had investment from investors excited about your revenue growth projections. But how can you take your small business up to the next level, finding those buyers without having to rely on word of mouth?

The obvious answer is to take on a salesperson.

But how do you know what to pay them? Obviously, salespeople work on commission – the more they sell, the more money they make – but won’t they need a basic salary to tide them over? And what should that split be?

This is when you need to decide on a sales commission structure for your small business.

First, you need to ask yourself some questions.

What is the hunter vs farmer concept?

A simple distinction between types of salespeople is the hunter vs farmer concept. The kind of salesperson you may need depends on the type of business you are in.

Martin Knowles, co-founder of sales coaching firm Sales Untangled, co-author of the Amazon bestseller of the same name, defines hunters versus farmers as follows:

Hunters are

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Hot Business News Today

5 ways to make your website more friendly for older customers

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Originally written by Paul Gray on Small Business
The ongoing pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives but perhaps the most impacted has been how we as a nation shop. From our weekly groceries to smart home tech and even furniture, the changes in rules due to lockdowns has led to us having to rely more on online shopping as physical stores were forced to close.
And for some the changes will now be permanent, with well-known high street brands collapsing and being brought back as online only.
‘Many e-commerce sites are yet to consider older shoppers as a viable demographic’
While more and more older customers have embraced the internet and online shopping due to necessity, many brands and e-commerce sites are yet to consider older customers as a viable demographic.
But can brands really afford to ignore any potential shoppers right now? Especially a demographic that, pre-pandemic, was reported to account for £320bn of annual household spending and the over-50s hold over three-quarters of the nation’s financial wealth.
>See also: 7 ways to enhance your small business website in 2020
Over 65s are not just one group
The market for 65 plus is constantly changing, not only as older customers adopt technology more readily into

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Hot Business News Today

5 ways to make your website more friendly for older customers

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Paul Gray on Small Business
The ongoing pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives but perhaps the most impacted has been how we as a nation shop. From our weekly groceries to smart home tech and even furniture, the changes in rules due to lockdowns has led to us having to rely more on online shopping as physical stores were forced to close.
And for some the changes will now be permanent, with well-known high street brands collapsing and being brought back as online only.
‘Many e-commerce sites are yet to consider older shoppers as a viable demographic’
While more and more older customers have embraced the internet and online shopping due to necessity, many brands and e-commerce sites are yet to consider older customers as a viable demographic.
But can brands really afford to ignore any potential shoppers right now? Especially a demographic that, pre-pandemic, was reported to account for £320bn of annual household spending and the over-50s hold over three-quarters of the nation’s financial wealth.
>See also: 7 ways to enhance your small business website in 2020
Over 65s are not just one group
The market for 65 plus is constantly changing, not only as older customers adopt technology more readily into

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How to encourage your business contacts to refer you to new clients

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Originally written by Matt Simmons on Small Business
For new and growing businesses with limited marketing budgets, a personal referral can be one of the best ways to pick up new business.
A referral is a business contact telling one of their own business contacts that they would recommend you, asking that person if they would be happy to hear from you directly, then passing their details to you if they say yes.
Just to be clear, a referral is not the same thing as a lead or even a recommendation.
Online enquiries can often be described as leads, but in truth a lead is any information which might help you towards a sale. Offline, that can be something as small as a tip-off about someone who might be interested in your product or service. A recommendation could be a good review online or a passing positive remark, which is great, but doesn’t actively bring a customer to your door.
A referral, however, is a warmed-up opportunity to do business – a personal introduction to someone who has expressed a specific interest in hearing from you and is awaiting your call. Effectively, it’s a lead and a recommendation combined.
The advantages of referrals over leads or

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Hot Business News Today

How to encourage your business contacts to refer you to new clients

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Matt Simmons on Small Business
For new and growing businesses with limited marketing budgets, a personal referral can be one of the best ways to pick up new business.
A referral is a business contact telling one of their own business contacts that they would recommend you, asking that person if they would be happy to hear from you directly, then passing their details to you if they say yes.
Just to be clear, a referral is not the same thing as a lead or even a recommendation.
Online enquiries can often be described as leads, but in truth a lead is any information which might help you towards a sale. Offline, that can be something as small as a tip-off about someone who might be interested in your product or service. A recommendation could be a good review online or a passing positive remark, which is great, but doesn’t actively bring a customer to your door.
A referral, however, is a warmed-up opportunity to do business – a personal introduction to someone who has expressed a specific interest in hearing from you and is awaiting your call. Effectively, it’s a lead and a recommendation combined.
The advantages of referrals over leads or

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

GoDaddy hosts virtual Christmas high street to promote microbusinesses

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Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
GoDaddy, the small business website platform, has launched its first Christmas Virtual High Street event to support online sales of microbusinesses.
With the high street quieter than usual, GoDaddyShops is hosting a Virtual High Street event in order to connect businesses with buyers.
GoDaddy’s 2020 State of the Nation research found that one in five micro-businesses have moved their business online for the first time this year.
>See also: 5 tips to make your small business TikTok marketing a success
Businesses are finding new ways to utilise social media too, changing the products and services they offer, often overnight.
Sixty-three per cent of consumers surveyed said they are shopping at small and local micro-businesses during the outbreak – a trend which is expected to continue into 2021.
Sakshi Anand, GoDaddy senior director UK and Ireland, said: “We know times are challenging for businesses at the moment, and there is uncertainty around what the winter and festive period holds. The second lockdown has had a huge impact for us all, but as we saw many small businesses innovate to survive the first lockdown, I am optimistic they will remain resilient.
“Our research shows we need to listen to business owners and

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

GoDaddy hosts virtual Christmas high street to promote microbusinesses

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
GoDaddy, the small business website platform, has launched its first Christmas Virtual High Street event to support online sales of microbusinesses.
With the high street quieter than usual, GoDaddyShops is hosting a Virtual High Street event in order to connect businesses with buyers.
GoDaddy’s 2020 State of the Nation research found that one in five micro-businesses have moved their business online for the first time this year.
>See also: 5 tips to make your small business TikTok marketing a success
Businesses are finding new ways to utilise social media too, changing the products and services they offer, often overnight.
Sixty-three per cent of consumers surveyed said they are shopping at small and local micro-businesses during the outbreak – a trend which is expected to continue into 2021.
Sakshi Anand, GoDaddy senior director UK and Ireland, said: “We know times are challenging for businesses at the moment, and there is uncertainty around what the winter and festive period holds. The second lockdown has had a huge impact for us all, but as we saw many small businesses innovate to survive the first lockdown, I am optimistic they will remain resilient.
“Our research shows we need to listen to business owners and

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

5 tips to maximise Black Friday sales during lockdown

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Originally written by timhyde on Small Business
Britain is now in the middle of “lockdown 2” which ends, according to the powers that be, on December 2. This means that this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) sales rush will take place when all non-essential retailers are in lockdown.
So what does this mean for retail spend?
In my mind, it is going to be intensified and businesses therefore need to be prepared.
>See also: How to use Snapchat to sell your products to Gen Z
Spending behaviour has inevitably changed over the last few months as retail outlets have been forced to close and customers have had to shop online. Businesses have therefore had to pivot their strategy to adapt to a focus of online selling.
‘Online retail has expanded by 35% so far this year’
Whether you take Shopify numbers or Amazon statistics, BFCM numbers show a year-on-year growth of around 50 per cent and I think we will see that again this year. Predictions are that online retailers expect 45 per cent Black Friday boost and that’s backed up by figures from online retail association IMRG indicating e-commerce has already expanded by 34.9 per cent year on year to October.
If we compare trends

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

5 tips to maximise Black Friday sales during lockdown

by  •  • 0 Comments

Originally written by timhyde on Small Business
Britain is now in the middle of “lockdown 2” which ends, according to the powers that be, on December 2. This means that this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) sales rush will take place when all non-essential retailers are in lockdown.
So what does this mean for retail spend?
In my mind, it is going to be intensified and businesses therefore need to be prepared.
>See also: How to use Snapchat to sell your products to Gen Z
Spending behaviour has inevitably changed over the last few months as retail outlets have been forced to close and customers have had to shop online. Businesses have therefore had to pivot their strategy to adapt to a focus of online selling.
‘Online retail has expanded by 35% so far this year’
Whether you take Shopify numbers or Amazon statistics, BFCM numbers show a year-on-year growth of around 50 per cent and I think we will see that again this year. Predictions are that online retailers expect 45 per cent Black Friday boost and that’s backed up by figures from online retail association IMRG indicating e-commerce has already expanded by 34.9 per cent year on year to October.
If we compare trends

Read more...

Hot Business News Today

How to shift your pub or restaurant from eat-in to takeaway and delivery

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The impact of COVID-19 has brought about so many changes for businesses. One of the main changes we’ve seen for restaurant and pub businesses is moving towards takeaway orders.
Data from Kantar shows that deliveries surged in the week leading up to the first lockdown (March 16-22), with delivery trips up 57 per cent year on year.
According to MCA’s Channel Pulse survey (from April 6-12), the average frequency that people used takeaway delivery was 2.3 times that week.
“There have been several success stories to come from the hardship that this year has brought to the hospitality, events, and catering industry, but the biggest, in my opinion, has been the rise of takeaway,” said Charlie Dean, managing director at packaging firm, Catering24.
Not only has it kept a number of our businesses afloat during this most difficult of times, but it has increased the quality of the market to a level we have not seen before.”
In this article we’ll be looking at how you can pivot your pub or restaurant to a takeaway model and what considerations you need to factor in before you make the shift.
What you need  in order to refocus your pub or

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