How to increase sales: proven strategies for growth

Published Monday 30 March 2026

Table of contents

• What is sales performance?
• Strategies to increase sales
• Increasing sales to existing customers
• Improve your sales process
• Finding new customers
• Track and measure your sales performance
• Use Xero to manage your sales growth with confidence
• FAQs on increasing sales

Key takeaways

• Prioritise selling more to existing customers before focusing on new customer acquisition, as you have a 60-70% chance of selling to existing customers compared to just 5-20% for new prospects.
• Remove barriers from your buying process by answering enquiries quickly, offering multiple payment options, and streamlining checkout to make purchasing as easy as possible for customers.
• Use cross-selling and upselling strategies by recommending related products alongside purchases or suggesting premium versions to increase the value of each transaction.
• Track key metrics like conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, and profit margins to measure whether your sales strategies are working and maintain profitability while growing revenue.

What is sales performance?

Sales performance measures how effectively your business converts opportunities into revenue. It includes metrics like conversion rates, average transaction value, and customer retention.

Good sales performance means:

• Consistent revenue growth: Sales increase steadily over time
• Healthy profit margins: You're not sacrificing profitability for volume
• Strong customer retention: Existing customers keep coming back
• Efficient processes: Your team spends time selling, not on admin

Understanding your current sales performance helps you identify where to focus improvement efforts.

Strategies to increase sales

Most businesses want to increase sales, and there are only two ways to do it: sell more to existing customers or attract new ones.

Start with existing customers. It's often more affordable than finding new ones, and it makes more sense strategically. Once you're good at maximising sales to existing customers, each new customer becomes automatically worth more.

The money you spend to attract new customers will deliver a bigger payback when your retention game is strong.

Increasing sales to existing customers

Selling to existing customers costs less and converts faster than acquiring new ones. It can cost significantly more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one, and the likelihood of success reflects this: you have a 60–70% chance of selling to an existing customer, while the probability for a new prospect plummets to just 5–20%.

Focus on two areas: removing friction from the buying process and building deeper customer relationships.

Reduce barriers to buying

Barriers to buying are anything that slows down or stops a customer from completing a purchase. Common barriers include complicated checkout processes, limited payment options, and slow response times.

Review your purchasing process from your customer's perspective to identify what might be holding them back.

Make ordering easier

Here are ways to make ordering easier:

• Answer enquiries quickly: return calls and messages the same day
• Send quotes promptly: delays give customers time to shop elsewhere
• Offer online ordering: let customers buy when it suits them
• Set up standing orders: automate recurring purchases for regular customers
• Provide multiple payment options: accept cards, bank transfers, and buy-now-pay-later services

Make billing friendlier

Customer-friendly billing encourages repeat business. Here are two approaches:

• Flat fees: Charge the same amount each month, even if service levels vary. Customers who prefer cost certainty find this attractive.
• Instalment payments: Let customers pay for big-ticket items over time. This helps their cash flow and makes larger purchases more accessible.

You may need accounting software or third-party payment services to offer these options, but flexible billing can boost repeat sales.

Optimise your pricing strategy

Your pricing strategy directly affects both sales volume and profitability. The right price attracts customers while protecting your margins.

Here are approaches to consider:

• Value-based pricing: set prices based on the value customers receive, not just your costs
• Competitive analysis: understand what similar businesses charge and position yourself accordingly
• Test price points: try different prices for the same product to see what converts best
• Offer pricing tiers: give customers options at different price levels to capture more of the market

Review your pricing regularly. Market conditions, costs, and customer expectations change over time.

Use sales promotions strategically

Sales promotions can boost revenue, but they need to be strategic. Straight discounts bring more business but cut into your margins.

Here are smarter approaches:

• Bundling promotions: offer "buy this, get that for half price" deals where the discount applies only to part of the bundle, protecting your overall margin
• Loyalty-based discounts: reward repeat customers with exclusive pricing, where the benefit of ongoing sales outweighs the discount cost
• Seasonal offers: time promotions around holidays or slow periods to drive traffic without training customers to always expect discounts

Cross-sell and upsell

Cross-selling promotes related products alongside what a customer is already buying. Upselling promotes an upgraded or higher-end version of their purchase.

Here's how to use each:

• Cross-selling examples: Place related items together on shelves or product pages, add recommendations to sales scripts, or suggest complementary services at checkout
• Upselling examples: Offer premium versions, larger sizes, or extended warranties when customers are ready to buy

Bundling discounts can encourage cross-sells, but they're not always necessary. A well-timed recommendation often does the job.

Learn more in the guide to upselling techniques to increase revenue.

Expand your product or service range

One way to sell more is to offer more. Here's how to identify opportunities:

• Ask your customers: find out what else they need from you
• Ask similar businesses: learn what they're selling that you're not
• Ask your suppliers: get suggestions for products that complement your range

Consider expanding into both goods and services:

• Product businesses: add related services like installation, training, or maintenance
• Service businesses: add related products, such as haircare items for salons or analytics tools for web providers

Look at different ways of packaging your offer:

• Reframe for new audiences: a chocolate maker could pitch themselves as a supplier for restaurants and caterers
• Rename for different markets: position the same service with industry-specific language to appeal to new customer segments
• Bundle differently: combine existing products or services into packages tailored to specific customer needs

Get more tips in the guide to launching new products.

Provide excellent customer service

Great customer service drives repeat purchases and referrals. Customers who feel valued spend more and recommend you to others, with research showing that 89% of consumers are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.

Here's how to deliver excellent service:

• Respond promptly: answer questions and resolve issues quickly
• Be proactive: reach out before problems arise to check in on customer satisfaction
• Handle complaints well: turn negative experiences into positive ones by listening and making things right
• Personalise interactions: remember customer preferences and acknowledge their loyalty

Service quality often matters more than price. Customers will pay more and stay longer when they trust you to look after them. Learn more about how to increase prices.

Build customer loyalty

Customer loyalty drives repeat purchases and referrals. Moving from a transactional mindset to a relationship mindset helps you build lasting connections that keep customers coming back, and the impact is significant: increasing retention by just 5% can increase profits by 25–95%.

Here's how to build loyalty:

• Create mailing lists or social media groups: stay in regular contact with your audience
• Send newsletters: share useful tips, news, and occasional business updates weekly, monthly, or quarterly
• Launch a loyalty programme: offer special privileges like early access to new products, exclusive discounts, or rewards
• Host events: bring customers together through information evenings, product launches, or exhibitions

Use social proof and testimonials

Social proof shows potential customers that others trust and value your business. It builds credibility and reduces buying hesitation.

Here's how to use social proof:

• Collect customer reviews: ask satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, social media, or industry platforms
• Display testimonials: feature positive feedback on your website and marketing materials
• Share case studies: show how you've helped specific customers achieve results
• Highlight popularity: mention bestselling products or the number of customers you've served

People trust recommendations from other customers more than advertising. When visitors engage with user-generated content like reviews, it doubles conversion likelihood.

Beyond building loyalty, you should also examine your internal processes.

Improve your sales process

Your sales process is the series of steps that turn a prospect into a paying customer. A streamlined process helps you close more deals in less time.

Here's how to improve it:

• Respond quickly: answer enquiries within hours, not days, since speed often wins the sale
• Follow up consistently: create a system for checking in with prospects who haven't decided yet
• Use templates: prepare quotes, proposals, and follow-up emails in advance to save time
• Track your pipeline: know where each prospect is in the buying journey so nothing falls through the cracks
• Remove bottlenecks: identify where deals stall and fix those friction points

Even small improvements to your sales process can significantly increase your close rate. Learn more about how the sales funnel works.

Finding new customers

Finding new customers expands your revenue potential beyond your existing base. Once you've optimised sales to current customers, acquisition strategies help you grow further.

Create data-driven buyer personas

A buyer persona is a detailed profile of your ideal customer based on real data and research. It helps you target marketing efforts and tailor your sales approach.

Here's how to create effective personas:

• Analyse existing customers: look at who buys from you most often and why
• Identify common traits: note demographics, behaviours, and pain points that your best customers share
• Research their needs: understand what problems they're trying to solve and how they make buying decisions
• Use the data: shape your marketing messages and sales tactics around what resonates with each persona

Targeting the right customers improves conversion rates and reduces wasted marketing spend.

Expand your presence (physical or online)

Expanding your presence puts your brand in front of new audiences. You can do this physically, online, or both.

Physical expansion

Opening new locations exposes your brand to people who live and work nearby. Start modestly to manage costs: share a workshop, open a pop-up shop, use a shared office space, or partner with a complementary business.

Online expansion

Digital presence often costs less than physical locations. Retailers can open online stores. Service providers can set up to serve clients remotely. Online expansion removes geographic limits and reaches customers wherever they are.

Take time to learn how your products or services are typically sold online before investing.

Optimise your website for conversions

Website conversion optimisation turns more of your visitors into customers. Small improvements to your site can significantly increase sales without increasing traffic.

Here's how to optimise for conversions:

• Speed up load times: Slow sites lose visitors before they see your offer, with data showing that mobile users are abandoning approximately 53% of sites that take more than three seconds to load.
• Simplify navigation: make it easy to find products, services, and contact information
• Use clear calls-to-action: tell visitors exactly what to do next with prominent buttons
• Streamline checkout: reduce the steps required to complete a purchase
• Optimise for mobile: ensure your site works well on phones and tablets

Test changes one at a time and measure results to see what improves your conversion rate.

Broaden your marketing

You may be able to increase sales by changing when, where, and how you speak to potential customers.

Experiment with digital marketing

Test social media and search marketing with a small budget. Try different platforms and ad formats to see what resonates with your audience. Track results so you know where to invest more.

Tap into word-of-mouth marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective and affordable ways to find new customers, with a 2023 survey confirming it as the leading source of brand discovery for US internet users. People trust recommendations from others.

Here's how to encourage referrals:

• Ask directly: tell customers you're looking for more people like them, which works as both a compliment and a request
• Build it into your process: add referral requests to your standard conversations so you never forget
• Offer incentives: consider referral rewards, but try asking without incentives first since people often help simply because they like you

Test new audiences

If you've been marketing to the same group, expand to include a different demographic. For example:

• A web services supplier to small businesses could target sports clubs and charities
• A commercial kitchen supplies business could open their offering to households

Use email marketing

Email marketing puts you in direct contact with prospects and customers at low cost. It's one of the highest-ROI marketing channels for small businesses, with data showing that for every $1 spent, the average return is $36.

Here's how to use email effectively:

• Build your list: collect email addresses through your website, in-store sign-ups, and events
• Segment your audience: send different messages to prospects, new customers, and loyal buyers
• Automate campaigns: set up welcome sequences, abandoned cart reminders, and follow-up emails
• Provide value: share useful content alongside promotional messages to keep subscribers engaged
• Track results: monitor open rates, click rates, and conversions to improve over time

Consistent, valuable email communication keeps your business top of mind when customers are ready to buy.

Once you've implemented these strategies, you need to measure their effectiveness.

Track and measure your sales performance

Tracking sales performance helps you understand whether your strategies are working and where to adjust. Every sales initiative has costs, so measuring return on investment keeps you profitable.

Costs to monitor

• Capital expenses: new tools, equipment, locations, or websites needed to execute your strategy
• Operating expenses: additional inventory, freight, marketing spend, and sales commissions

Key metrics to track

• Conversion rate: the percentage of leads or visitors who become paying customers
• Customer acquisition cost: how much you spend to win each new customer
• Customer lifetime value: the total revenue a customer generates over time
• Profit margins: the difference between revenue and costs on each sale

Pay close attention to margins. Increasing sales only helps if you maintain profitability. If discounting shrinks your margin, make sure the sales increase is enough to deliver overall profit growth.

The right tools can help you stay on top of all these metrics.

Use Xero to manage your sales growth with confidence

Growing your sales means managing more transactions, tracking more expenses, and understanding your numbers in real time. Xero gives you the tools to stay on top of it all.

Here's how you can use Xero to support your sales growth:

• Track marketing ROI: monitor what you spend on campaigns and measure the return
• Automate invoicing: send invoices faster and get paid sooner with online payment options
• See cash flow in real time: understand how sales growth affects your finances
• Reduce admin time: spend less time on bookkeeping and more on selling

Get one month free and see how Xero helps you grow with confidence.

FAQs on increasing sales

Here are answers to common questions about increasing sales for your small business.

How can I increase sales quickly?

Focus on your existing customers first. Reduce barriers to buying, follow up on abandoned quotes, and ask for referrals. These tactics cost less and convert faster than finding new customers.

Should I focus on getting new customers or selling more to existing customers?

Focus on existing customers first, as they convert faster and cost less to sell to. Once you've maximised sales to your existing base, invest in acquisition.

How much should I budget for sales and marketing initiatives?

Most small businesses spend between 2% and 10% of revenue on marketing, depending on growth goals. Track your customer acquisition cost and return on investment to find the right balance for your business.

What metrics should I track to measure sales performance?

Focus on conversion rate, customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, and profit margins. These metrics show whether your strategies are working and where to adjust.

How do I know which sales strategies are right for my business?

Start with low-cost tactics that match your business type. Test one or two strategies at a time, measure results, and scale what works. Your ideal approach depends on your customers, industry, and growth stage.