Whether you are an executive working in a MNC or a small business owner, sales will always be a priority. Ultimately, revenue is the oxygen for business to stay afloat. If you are a business owner, you will constantly be looking out for cost effective ways to grow your sales.

In today’s article, I will share with you 10 proven ways that I have used to cultivate sales. (Both as an employee and a business owner)

If you are looking to sell business in Singapore in the coming 2 - 3 years, this will be of crucial importance to you. Business acquirers or investors typically prioritize revenue growth as a key matrix, and this would have a huge impact on your business valuation.

1. Hire a Professional Salesperson

For many SMB (small medium business) owners, especially those with less than SGD $3 million annual revenue, there is a tendency not to hire a salesperson. While it’s understandable that hiring an effective salesperson can be expensive and an uphill task, not doing so can effectively stymie your business growth in the long run.

Sales is a competitive and time-consuming full-on activity, akin to a sport played at a professional level. By hiring a competent salesperson, you can have the bandwidth to strategize and work on your business rather than in your business.

Tip: If cashflow is a concern for you, you can always consider hiring salesperson on a full commission structure.

2. Establish Affiliate Partnership

If you are running an online business, you can tap on affiliate partnership. Affiliate partnership is about working with marketing partners who drive traffic to your company's website through tracked links and earn a commission when the traffic converts to sales. There are 2 examples of organization that use affiliate partnership to great effect: Amazon and Klook

Klook is a travel marketplace, similar to an OTA (Online Travel Agent) and you can learn more about their affiliate program here. Their industry peers include Agoda and TripAdvisor.

There are many free or low-cost affiliate tracking program available in the web. Previously, I was using Goaffpro Affiliate Marketing. It’s free and I find that it works well for me.

3. Network in Relevant Events and Associations

One effective way to get quality leads is to participate in associations/ events that are highly relevant to your practice. For example, if your company provides communication training services (B2B or B2C), it makes sense to participate in Toastmaster clubs since their members are intentional about improving their communication skills.

Likewise, if you provide various productivity software solutions to SMEs, you may want to consider participating in BNI (Business Network International). A lot of small business owners joined BNI and various trade associations. As a business broker in Singapore, I typically participate in numerous events too.

4. Tap on Paid Advertisement

There are many SMBs (small medium businesses) that do not utilize paid advertisement. This can be a potential source of customers, whether you are in the B2B or B2C space. When use effectively, this can be a goldmine.

There are many avenues to run paid advertisement campaigns, and these includes Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Business Publications, Newspaper, local magazines, etc.

Tip: Run an advertisement on a small budget to determine if it’s worthwhile before you write them off.

5. Work with Influencers

When it comes to influencers, many people might think that it’s only applicable to B2C businesses. This can apply to B2B sector as well. A simple way of doing so, is to ask an existing B2B customer to post their review of your services online. Obviously the better known the customer is in their field, the better it is for you.

For B2C businesses, you can always work with nano or micro influencers if cost is a concern. Many nano or micro influencers are willing to collaborate with a brand for free or minimal cost. Those with less than 1,000 followers on Instagram may have surprising impact on your sales too!

6. Content Marketing Strategy

Creating content is an effective way to provide value to potential customers in a sustainable and low-cost manner. The key is to write articles that are relevant to your ideal customer profile and provide meaningful insight. What you are reading now is an example of my content marketing work. I write articles for my own website, contribute guest blog, draft newsletter and occasional publications.

It is an effective way to showcase your subject matter expertise and elevate your brand positioning in the long run. At the same time, it can have a positive impact on your SEO when done well.

Tip: If writing is not your strength, you can always consider hiring a professional writer on a project basis. You can easily find them on LinkedIn, Fiverr or Upwork. If budget is a concern, you can consider using ChatGPT or Google Gemini.

7. Utilize Marketplace

Rightfully this should fall under channel development. If you are a B2B manufacturer, you can always list your products on Alibaba or Global Sources. If you are a B2C brand, then you can list your product on Shopee, Lazada, fortytwo (For home furniture).

If you are a B2C service provider, you can always look out for specialized or localized marketplace. For example, if you are yoga trainer looking for more customers, you can consider tapping on ClassPass or Meetup.com.

Tip: Take your time to source for relevant marketplace. It might be a good idea to ask your customers or industry peers.

8. Go The Extra Mile for Your Customers

Customers like to be taken care of. If they like your services, they are more likely to continue ordering from you and even referring you more customers.

According to Harvard Business Review, using data from over 41 million customers of a cash-back app, referred customers not only make more purchase, they also bring in about 30%-57% more new customers through referral. (Viral referral)

One of my favorite tools is a CMS (content management system), Wix.* I have been using them for the past 5 years and been increasing my spend every year. I find that they are a easy to use website builder, coupled with useful features at an affordable price. Their customer support is world class, and far exceed many Singapore based organizations. On various occasions, I recommend people to use them too.

Question: Are your customers happy with your product or services?

9. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is about making your business findable on Goggle. Ever heard of this saying “It’s doesn’t matter who you know, what matters is who knows you.”

Imagine you have a business that shows people how to make a hamburger, and you are the number 1 search result on Google. Can you imagine how many people would be visiting your website every single day?

Let’s say there are 1,000 visitors coming to your website and 1% of them converts successfully into a sale with an average purchase value of $50 every day. Using a simple formula to work out the annual sale:

1,000 visitors per day X 1% conversion rate X $50 X 365 days = $182,500

For a small business in Singapore, having additional $182,500 of sales is very significant. Not forgetting subsequent purchase and referral if your customers are happy with your service.

10. Utilize Social Media

Most people think that social media is limited to B2C companies. Nothing can be further away from the truth. There are social media channels for B2B companies too. Some of the effective social media channels include YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, XiaoHongShu, TikTok, Telegram, Reddit, Quora and etc.

Decision makers, purchasers and key influencers are human too. Many of them utilize social media as well. Check out the excellent marketing content AppSumo has created on YouTube via the screenshots below:

In conclusion, there are many ways to drive sales, and it doesn’t have to cost a bomb. What it takes is sound planning, creative thinking, skillful execution and patience. Remember Rome is not built overnight. It’s always about helping your customer and playing the long game.

*I am not an affiliate partner of Wix. I happen to be their satisfied customer for many years.

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