Written by Sean McPheat | 
Like many others, are you on the hunt for ‘a magical’ sales volume formula?
Increasing sales is a universal goal for businesses, and the desire to boost sales volume remains at the forefront of this mission.
This essential metric, however, is not just about selling more. It’s about understanding market dynamics, fine-tuning strategies, and adopting the right techniques.
Leveraging effective Sales Training can arm your team with the tools and insights to drive sales numbers consistently upwards.
As we delve deeper into this guide, you’ll discover the basics of ‘what is sales volume’ and ‘sales volume meaning’… as well as essential tools and ways to increase sales in your organisation, along with 21 actionable strategies that not only amplify your sales volume but also enhance the overall efficiency of your sales process.
Let’s begin with a clear sales volume definition and an explanation of how to calculate sales volume.
The term “sales volume” describes the number of units a company sells during a given reporting period (a month, quarter, year, etc.).
A company’s sales volume says a lot about it, such as how it’s doing financially and how well it is likely to perform in the future. Investors often look at a company’s sales volume to decide whether or not they want to support it.
There are actually two different ways to calculate sales volume: The percentage formula and the unit formula.
The percentage sales volume formula tells the percentage of units sold of a particular item. It is as follows:
(Units of individual product sold x 100) / Total units of all products sold
The unit formula multiplies the number of units sold by a specific time period. It is as follows:
Number of units sold x time period
Still trying to understand? Let’s get practical, starting with the unit formula.
Say you sold 1,000 hats in a month. The sales volume for one month would be 1,000.
Now, let’s use the percentage formula.
Say you sold 1,000 hats in a month, but you also sold 1,500 pairs of gloves and 800 scarves. The total volume for the month would be 3,300.
To calculate the percentage of the sales volume for hats, specifically, the equation would look like this:
(1,000 hats x 100) / 3,300 = 30.3%
Therefore, hats make up 30.3% of the company’s sales volume for the past month.
Now that you have a better understanding of the sales volume meaning, how you can calculate it, and why it matters, it’s time to talk about how you can increase it. If you need advice on how to increase sales volume, here are 21 proven strategies that can help.
Successful sales come from building relationships and solving people’s problems. You can’t do either of those if you don’t first know what your target customer is struggling with and how your company’s products or services can help.
Take time to get to know your audience and nail down specific pain points they’re facing. Create different avatars based on these pain points and other key information (such as age, gender, economic status, etc.) so you can tailor your messages appropriately.
This is also known as Target Account Selling. It is a process where you prioritise and focus your sales efforts on a specific group of customers that are more likely to generate the greatest amount of revenue.
When coming up with a sales pitch, make sure you include the unique benefits customers will experience when they invest in your products or services. If people understand what a product or service can do for them and how it can solve a particular problem, they’ll be more inclined to actually follow through and try it out.
It can be tempting to stick to the same sales approach you’ve been using for months or even years, especially if you’re still seeing results. However, if your sales volume isn’t as high as you’d like it to be, or if you want to increase sales of a particular product or service, you may need to make some adjustments.
Don’t be afraid to do something new, whether that’s changing the way you connect with potential customers (for example, trying out Social Selling instead of making cold calls) or highlighting different features during a product demonstration.
Pay attention to how the competition is selling its products or services. What features are other businesses in your industry highlighting in their ads? What kinds of promotions are they running in their marketing emails?
Keeping an eye on the competition can help in two ways.
Firstly, it can help you keep ahead of competition by providing inspiration and ideas for how you can enhance your sales strategy.
Secondly, it can show you gaps in other strategies that your reps can fill when coming up with their own pitches, call scripts, etc.
Maybe you’re already seeing good results from your sales strategy – but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. If your team isn’t doing much (or any) upselling or cross-selling, they could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
Make sure your salespeople understand the value of upselling and cross-selling. Talk to them about the products or services that they can upsell or cross-sell, too, so they know what to focus on during their next meeting, sales call, online interaction, etc.
Head over to our blogpost What Is Cross Selling And Up-Selling? For more information on this.
Speaking of online interactions, make sure you and your sales team are taking advantage of all the digital channels out there for communicating with prospects. From email to Facebook, selling a product or services on these platforms allows you to meet people where they already are – meaning they’re more likely to listen to (or read) what you have to say and respond.
No matter how well your sales team is currently doing, they can always do better.
Continuous market analyses allow you to keep an eye on your target audience and monitor the demand for products or services like those your company sells.
Keeping an eye on these things, in turn, allows you to adapt sooner when you notice shifts in the market, which helps you stay ahead of the curve and gain an advantage over the competition.
Pay careful attention to how individual sales team members are performing and identify the top sellers. Then, once you know who the top sellers are, assign them to the highest-value leads.
Matching people this way will increase your chances of converting leads and closing deals, which means higher sales volume for the team and the business.
Avoid making decisions at random, especially when it comes to allocating sales territories. Use data to identify the areas that your team should focus on and assign the team members who are most likely to perform well in a particular area.
For example, if you know an area that has a high percentage of Spanish-speaking people, it would make sense to assign your Spanish-speaking sales reps to that region.
Are you getting ready to hire new sales team members? If so, make sure you’re using a recruitment process that helps you scope out the most promising candidates.
You don’t necessarily need to limit yourself to people who have years of sales experience. However, you should look for job seekers who possess the following traits:
People with these traits tend to be motivated learners who are eager to rise through the ranks and succeed in their careers – and they’re more likely to be assets to your company’s sales team.
Your target audience is likely diverse, and your sales team should be, too. During your recruiting process, strive to diversify and connect with job seekers of different ages, ethnicities, abilities, etc.
Diversity and inclusion allow you to cast a wider net and build relationships with people who might not have been interested in your products or services previously.
Many sales team leaders (and marketing team leaders, for that matter) forget how intertwined sales and marketing are. If you’re not already making an effort to align your company’s sales and marketing strategies, now is the perfect time to start.
Schedule regular meetings with reps from the marketing department to talk about the latest observations and brainstorm ideas on how members of both teams can incorporate them into their current plans and processes.
It can be easy to focus so much on gaining new customers that you neglect those who are already supporting your business.
Make sure your salespeople stay in contact with previous customers or clients. For example, they can check in regularly to find out if they’re happy with their product or service, if they’ve heard about the latest version or a new offering, etc.
A customer advocate is a loyal and happy customer who regularly uses your product or service. They’re so satisfied with what you’re offering that they speak positively to others about their experience.
With so many different social media platforms available these days, there are endless opportunities for customer advocacy.
Encourage your existing customers to talk about their experiences on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. When they do so, you’re able to get your business’s name in front of more people, including those who wouldn’t have known about it otherwise.
You can also invite customers to write testimonials and share their stories for a case study – the options are limitless.
Another way to encourage customer loyalty and customer advocacy is to reward your most loyal customers.
Perhaps you can start a loyalty program that includes a special prize after someone has made so many purchases or invested in so many services. You could also create a referral program or run a contest to motivate them to bring more new customers to your business.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, make cold-calling and cold emailing critical parts of your sales strategy.
Make sure your team members are cold calling and emailing regularly so you can continue getting your business’s name in front of new people and expanding your reach. You never know when someone might be interested, after all!
Even the most skilled salespeople need a little extra motivation from time to time. If you need to boost motivation and increase sales volume, consider hosting a contest and offering some exciting incentives for your sales team.
There are lots of ways to run a sales contest, from rewarding the person who makes the most sales in a month to rewarding the team that gets the most referrals from their existing customers. No matter what kind of contest you plan to run, though, make sure you lay out clear rules and level the playing field as much as possible so everyone has a chance at winning.
When working with your team to set sales goals, make sure you’re setting goals that are realistic but still push team members out of their comfort zones.
If the goals are too easy, the team won’t be motivated to try to meet or exceed them. If the goals are too ambitious, though, the team may also lose motivation quickly, which also won’t increase sales volume.
When monitoring your sales team’s performance, make sure you’re focusing on the right metrics. If you want to increase your team’s sales volume, the following are some examples of metrics worth watching:
In addition to rewarding sales team members for meeting/exceeding goals, make sure you’re also recognising them for their effort and showing that you appreciate them.
Your salespeople work hard, and they deserve to know that you value and respect them. Even small gestures like giving someone a shout-out in an email sent to the whole team can make a difference and keep people feeling motivated.
You can also let reps know you appreciate them during performance reviews.
Make sure you schedule regular performance reviews to talk to team members about what they’re doing well and what they need to improve. These reviews also give you a chance to answer questions, offer coaching, and address concerns your reps might have.
When you implement these strategies to increase sales volume, you can set your organisation up for greater short- and long-term success. Here are some specific benefits you will see when your sales volume numbers go up:
Naturally, increased sales volume and more conversions will lead to more revenue for the company. If your goal is to increase profitability, start making sales volume a higher priority.
Sales volume can also determine a company’s market share (the portion of total sales that the business captures in a particular industry or market). A higher market share points to a more robust presence and customer base, both of which can lead to greater customer loyalty and long-term business success.
If your company has a consistently high sales volume, that can be an indicator that it’s time to focus on scaling and expanding. By working to improve your team’s sales volume, you can contribute to the company’s long-term success by setting it up to scale sooner (and more effectively).
Keeping an eye on sales volume and the metrics associated with it can also help you gather other types of valuable data regarding your sales team and individual members.
For example, you can see which team members are contributing the most to the company’s sales volume. As a result, you will know whom to consider when the time comes to deliver raises, award promotions, recommend people for leadership positions, etc.
Increasing your team’s sales volume will offer numerous benefits, not just to the sales department and individual salespeople but to the company as a whole (from its profitability and market share to its scalability).
Use the 21 techniques and ideas shared above to level up your sales strategy and raise your sales volume.
Of all the strategies listed in this guide, one of the most effective options that will help you increase sales volume is investing in adequate and ongoing training for your salespeople.
MTD offers a range of sales training solutions like our Selling Skills Training, Telesales Courses and Account Management Courses.
Alternatively, we also offer bespoke sales training solutions that can be used to support your team to help them achieve their goals.
Or take a look at our full portfolio of Sales Training Courses.
Happy selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Sales Training
Updated on: 9 January, 2024
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