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The financial services industry was hit hard by COVID-19. An industry-wide survey conducted by McKinsey in June of 2020 found that businesses across the world were experiencing declines in revenue, savings, and spending. PWC estimates that during the pandemic, 49% of people are staying at home, while 57% are solitary.

It’s not uncommon for people who prefer to conduct business over the phone to face long wait times when doing so. To allow employees the option of working remotely while adhering to strict regulations regarding the protection of personally identifiable information, organizations had to move at lightning speed (PII).

• Financial services marketing during COVID-19
• Digital experience that has been optimized
• Communication
• Developing a strong belief system

Financial services marketing during COVID-19

These challenging times necessitate that financial service marketers do what they can to serve customers. A well-optimized digital experience, informative content marketing and the building of trust are some of the ways they hope to connect with their customers and build their brand.

Digital experience that has been optimized

According to a Chase survey, 54% of consumers plan to use digital banking more often in 2020 than they did in 2019. Chase’s mobile app was deemed indispensable by 50% of respondents. Digital money management was preferred by 80% of the survey participants.

Digital banking was preferred by customers prior to the pandemic. It became even more important as physical locations were either closed or avoided due to the epidemic. Long hold times may have influenced a customer’s preference for online banking over phone banking.

In order to reach their customers, financial services companies should place a high emphasis on mobile marketing and digital optimization.

Communication

Surveys by GOBankingRates show that 62% of Americans lack basic knowledge of banking. It’s not always easy to explain to a customer the various financial service options available to them.

Clear communication is essential when it comes to informing customers about financial services such as mortgages, banking, insurance, and more. More than ever, the importance of communicating with consumers and providing them with useful information has been highlighted during COVID-19.

Developing a strong belief system

Consumers’ personal information is not just handled by financial services companies; it is also collected by them. During the pandemic, 40% of those who took the DepositAccounts survey said they had a lot of trust in their bank, while 38% said they had a moderate amount of trust.

A total of 78 percent of those polled said they had at least some faith in their bank. Financial institutions have been working hard to regain their customers’ confidence for years following the financial crisis of the late 2000s.

In Conclusion

Financial service providers that have a positive reputation are more likely to gain the trust of their customers. 70% of consumers say they would not trust a brand if they thought it put profits ahead of people, and 78% expect brands to protect their employees and communities, according the Edelman Trust Barometer

When it comes to building consumer confidence in a brand, nothing builds it faster than positive online reviews. Customers should be put first and their needs should be taken care of in order for them to keep coming back for more.

Automation is a common practice in the digital marketing industry. As a result, marketing groups are free to work on more strategic projects rather than ones that require a lot of manual labor. Teams are better able to handle their most important daily tasks when human error is minimized.

Automated digital marketing has a clear advantage. Forrester, on the other hand, predicts that investments in digital marketing automation will continue to rise even as overall marketing expenditures decline. However, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. In order to reap the full benefits of automation, it must be applied correctly. There are a number of ways to ensure that automation is approached cautiously in order to avoid these common negative effects.

Common Negative Effects of Automation

• Automated activities become stale when they lack high-quality content
• When integration is done incorrectly, benefits are lost
• Inaccurate analytics can make automation unstable
• Automation can feel impersonal

1. Automated activities become stale when they lack high-quality content

There is a lot of content required for digital marketing automation. In the absence of regularly updated, interesting content, users will lose interest in and stop interacting with automation.

Teams can work together, communicate, and publish content from a central location with a content management system (CMS). CMSs are great for cataloging existing content, so teams can use each other’s prior research and writing. A good idea is to make the most efficient use of resources possible when creating and planning content.

2. When integration is done incorrectly, benefits are lost

It is possible to connect your digital marketing automation platform directly to other solutions through integrations. Your website, CRM, email marketing tool, social media marketing tool, and digital ad tool must all be linked together in one place in order to reap the full benefits of automation. It will be easier for your sales and marketing teams to communicate with each other in real time.

Make sure that the automation technology is compatible with your other software programs before you get started with it. If you choose a solution that can easily integrate with your current software without the need for IT assistance, the integration process will be greatly simplified.

3. Inaccurate analytics can make automation unstable

Account analysis, revenue attribution, and future automated campaigns can all benefit from analytic data and dashboards. But a comprehensive analytics strategy is needed. If your technology isn’t properly integrated, your team may be forced to piece dashboards together, which could lead to human error and the loss of critical data. Analytic platforms should be able to handle data from automated processes.

4. Automation can feel impersonal

When customers see automated, generic marketing touchpoints, they won’t waste their time with them. Your audience expects you to make good use of personal information you have access to. With automation, you must create dynamic content that can tailor messages based on audience data, so that the right messages are delivered to those who need them.

Many marketing strategies through adverts have been helpful most especially softwares which could be both effective online or offline by prominent Email providers, interestingly many of such providers help to access customers without “Spams”. Spamming is inevitable in scenes whereby the customers feel threatened by illegal access or frequent advert, which many perceive as “intrusion”. Hence service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo mail and so on, over the years have solved this problems without bridging laws that protects internet users and many more, most especially the “CAN-SPAM” (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act. Newer and better versions of Email service providers (ESPs) other than Yahoo or Gmails have sprang forth and have better advantages, as some of such ESPs can analyze and group customers into various needed targeted populations.

Below, we would consider Six Popular Email Providers That Are BETTER Than Gmail and Yahoo Mail. ESPs such as;

• Microsoft Outlook App
• GMX MAIL
• Zoho Mail
• iclouds
• AOL Mail

1. Microsoft Outlook App

• This ESP is built-in directly with the “Windows 10 operating system”.
•  This App also works directly with the Outlook Office 365 app.
•  It can be used with web client or desktop client, as about 16 percent of all email sent is opened on one of the two apps.

2.  GMX MAIL

One of Germany’s largest internet service providers that came to limelight since 1997.

• Its provides about 1 Gigabyte extra storage space for users.
• It also provides approximately about 50MB attachment limit, and support for both IMAP and POP.
• Most thrilling is that it offers well above 60GB of email storage, which is of course needed never to run out of space again.

3. Zoho Mail

• Zoho Mail (which also one of the fastest growing ESP that gained relevance around October, 2008) allows you set up email at your domain “for free”, it also provides multi-level folders, conversation views, drag-and-drop inbox organizing, and good filters.
• This ESP is tightly integrated with “Zoho Docs”—performing functions as Microsoft Office that lets you create, edit, and collaborate on text, spreadsheet documents, etc.

4. iclouds

• iCloud itself is a holistic cloud service. It substitutes other Apple services such as “Find My iPhone”, “Photo Stream”, “Keychain”, or “iCloud Drive”.
• All iCloud users get 5GB of storage for free. In addition to documents, photos, and or any emails you receive doesn’t take this freespace.

5. AOL Mail

• It enables you to rebrand or group email lists you have just received.
• AOL Mail helps its users to arrange emails as wished.
• It has a customized panel to improve best work performance

The lead or sales state of a potential customer reflects where they are in the sales funnel. A customer who has only recently been identified is still in the lead qualification phase. Whereas a customer who has been exposed to multiple sales pitches and expressed interest in the product may be regarded as ready to close. Keeping track of each potential customer’s lead status is critical to determining the right next step, such as arranging a pitch meeting or trying to persuade the potential customer to buy.

• 3 Benefits of tracking the lead status
  • An increase in conversions
  • Identify best sourcing channels
  • Better understanding of the customer journey
• 2 Sample values to track your lead’s status
  • Opportunity sizes
  • The rate of the conversion

3 Benefits of tracking the lead status

1. An increase in conversions

When a salesperson keeps track of the various stages of a lead, they never approach a customer conversation empty-handed. As a result, they have a better understanding of how and when to ask for the sale, which translates to a higher conversion rate. A salesperson, on the other hand, is better equipped to anticipate obstacles and work around them before a customer asks for help. You don’t have to call the customer again to find out what financing options they’re interested in if you have a certain lead status that indicates that they’ve previously balked at the price.

2. Identify best sourcing channels

As a result of tracking lead status, salespeople may more easily identify the best sourcing channels, improving the lead qualification process and guaranteeing that they receive prospects who will buy. Building an audit trail and data that can be examined afterwards to discover which consumers and sources best respond to your pitch is made possible by recognizing a customer’s lead status at each stage of the journey.

3. Better understanding of the customer journey

You and your sales team can better understand the customer journey when leads are being tracked. To better serve your customers, you’ll learn exactly where in your sales pitch you’re hitting a wall so you can adjust your approach. You may need to work on your closing techniques. You can also work on your ability to establish value during your pitches.

2 Sample values to track your lead’s status

1. Opportunity sizes

Some customers are worth more than others, and this is true even among customers. Tracking average opportunity sizes for closed leads will help you identify which sources are most profitable. It also allows you to focus on those sources and generate a higher volume of targeted leads.

2. The rate of the conversion

You want to find out how well you sell your product to customers. High conversion rates indicate a strong sales operation, whilst low conversion rates indicate areas for improvement in a business.

If you’re closing big sales, having a low conversion rate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s time to look at your business if your opportunity size is low and your conversion rate is low.

Over time, the percentage of employees who stay with a company can be determined by their retention rate. The more stable and pleased your employees are, the higher your retention rate.

For nearly a decade, the number of employees leaving the company has been increasing.

Employee resignations, terminations, and layoffs all fall under the umbrella of “turnover”. This trend suggests that the labor market is healthy and that the unemployment rate is low. Furthermore, it stresses the fact that a large portion of this turnover can be avoided.

• Why are retention rates important for small firms?
• Strategies for improving retention

Why are retention rates important for small firms?

Retention has a significant impact on your company’s financial and competitive performance.

• Operating costs:

Time and money invested on recruiting and onboarding a new employee are lost when they depart the company. All of these costs must be incurred again if you bring in a new employee. For these reasons, the Work Institute estimates that companies lose $15,000 each worker.

• Productivity:

Each time you take a vacation, your productivity falls. You will be without a worker for the duration of the hiring procedure. And it takes time for a new member of the team to adapt to their new surroundings.

• Employee engagement:

Workplace morale suffers when employees leave, which in turn has a negative effect on production. Seeing coworkers be fired or move on to better opportunities can be upsetting. Remaining members must frequently scramble to preserve order until a replacement is found.

• Customer service:

In order to build long-term relationships with customers, you need a team of experienced and dedicated employees. You have a problem if your consumers are dealing with a different representative every two months.

• Growth:

When an opportunity presents itself, you are unable to take full advantage of it because of this unseen drag on earnings and outputs.

Strategies for improving retention

Your bosses aren’t the only ones to blame for your staff quitting. This may be true, however your company’s retention rate is influenced by a variety of other factors. You can try to improve your retention rate if it’s lower than you’d want:

1. Find opportunities

The first step is to figure out why individuals are leaving your company. Workers tend to depart for the following reasons:

• The lack of advancement in one’s career
• Maintaining a good work-life balance
• Managerial conduct
• Benefits and compensation
• Optimum health

Conducting exit interviews, meeting with departing team members, and chatting with management can help you establish if these trends apply to your firm. Formal questionnaires can also be used to gather data on the reasons for leaving staff. Additionally, reviews on Glassdoor might help you learn more about how your employees feel about working at your company.

2. Knowing your strength

Retention isn’t only about keeping on top of those who are leaving. As also, it’s about the people who are still here. Current employees’ levels of satisfaction with their work can be gleaned from surveys and one-on-one interviews. You should look for departments that have a high degree of coherence and happiness. Do these regions have any lessons that can be applied elsewhere?

3. Customize company solutions

You may customise company solutions based on your personnel study. The following are a few examples:

• Creating career paths and growth plans for employees.
• The provision of learning opportunities and the advancement of expertise.
• Taking into account new incentives, such as financial aid for tuition.
• Allowing employees to work from home or on their own schedules, among other work-life balance benefits.
• Aiming to increase employee growth, communication, team building and conflict management by training managers when necessary.
• Keeping tabs on the perks and salaries of your employees
• Daily and in each team, living up to your company’s basic values

Ad formats and targeting options are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Consider testing and using new features as soon as they’re available to your customers. At the very least, experiment with the ones that are most closely related to your social media marketing objectives. Here are some tried-and-true best practices and tips to help you get the most out of your social media advertising efforts:

• Observe your target audiences on Facebook
• Boost Posts
• Set up conversion tracking
• Automate campaign optimization
• Juggle audiences

1. Observe your target audiences on Facebook

The first stage in planning a marketing campaign is to determine who your target market is. Facebook’s platform makes it possible to do audience research, giving you a firm understanding on the many audience segments and targeting options available.

Use the tool to learn more about social media audiences, or to plan your next Facebook advertising campaign’s audience targeting.

How to research audiences using Facebook

• Set up an audience insights tool for Facebook.
• Take notes, play around and improve your personas.

2. Boost Posts

The more people who see your social media posts, the better. As an alternative, a process called “boosting” is used by the platforms to get your piece more visibility on social media. The number of people who see a post you’ve improved sees a big boost.

With the help of post boosts, you may reach a much larger audience for an affordable price and turn your marketing efforts into paid advertising. The boosting mechanism has been integrated into many social media management applications, allowing you to set up boosting for your posts at the same time as they are published.

How to boost a post on social media

• Broadcast your post on your business profile.
• Find the promote, sponsor or boost button on the post.
• Configure the amount, duration and target of the boost.
• If your ad account isn’t set up, add a credit card.

3. Set up Conversion Tracking

In most advertising efforts, your goal is for users who click on your ads to arrive at your website. From a data perspective, the user experience is split into two parts. Social media is used to track the advertising process, but your website is used to track the conversion process.

You need to link these two paths in order to report on the effects of your advertising expenditure. You’ll need to add tracking tags to your website for this. Additionally, adding tracking tags to your redirection URLs will increase your site’s performance in the analytics.

Monitoring conversions on social media networks where you promote will allow you to see how your ad spending translates into sales.

4. Automate campaign optimization

Advertising networks on social media have access to enormous amounts of data, and they employ hordes of programmers to develop algorithms that take advantage of this information.

Social media activities will help a number of these algorithms learn new information. Advertisers could take advantage of machine learning to streamline their campaigns.

How to automate campaign optimization

• Set a clear goal for your optimization.
• Set up your ad campaign in the usual way
• Instead of making a budget, decide on a goal you want to achieve. In order to get the most out of your budget, you need to set a maximum cost per action (CPA).
• Monitor the number and quality of conversions after launching your campaign.

5. Juggle audiences

Audience matching with customized audiences, new audiences with similar audiences, audience qualification with derived audiences, and negative audiences are all ways to accomplish this goal.

Here are some examples of target audiences you can create and use:

• On the basis of demographics, location, interests and behavior of the target audience
• Those who follow you.
• The number of visitors to your web page.
• Those who have seen a video advertisement (derived audiences).
• CRM user profiles connected with social media platform profiles (custom audiences).
• Identical users to those from the CRM database you just drew (similar audiences).

If you’re trying to obtain new customers, you should get rid of the ones you already have so that your target audience is better qualified. Targeting “lookalike” or “similar” audiences is the best way to find new customers that share the same interests as your current customers.

A customer profile research uses CRM system data to identify the perfect customer for a firm. If you don’t have a CRM, it’s conceivable to conduct customer profile analysis, but it would be extremely time and labor intensive.

Customer profile analysis is the process of using CRM and other data sources to help you make better business decisions. To get investors and money, it’s common for entrepreneurs to conduct a consumer profile analysis. You can obtain a better understanding of your customers by researching them and building many buyer personas. Sales can be increased by analyzing client profiles in five different ways.

• Use sales-oriented ICPs
• Your ICPs should be updated
• Leverage targeted emails for each ICP
• Segment leads based on consumer profiles
• Acquire the ability to foretell the future

1. Use sales-oriented ICPs

As expected, ICPs are a valuable tool for sales organizations. They aid sales people in gaining a better understanding of who they’re talking to and what they need to do. For your ICPs to be as high as possible, you must collect accurate information. Sales-specific ICPs let salespeople tailor their pitch to meet the individual needs of each customer because sales conversations are at the heart of sales.

Provide them with details on the typical purchases that ICPs make. All customer profiles should be accessible to agents, as well. In the event of a transaction being lost, having these ICPs at hand is crucial.

2. Your ICPs should be updated

In most cases, old information is of no use. It can also lead to a lack of good judgment. Maintaining correct customer data and ICPs is essential in order to stay on top of what your customers want. Decide on a regular updating schedule and stick to it. As sales and market conditions change, adjust your procedure, but keep your schedule in sync with those changes.

3. Leverage targeted emails for each ICP

The use of targeted email templates is a great way to boost sales and marketing efficiency, especially when each ICP has its own template. When you work with a variety of companies, your salespeople’s interactions with them will be different as a result. Make use of your ICPs to craft emails that are specific to each profile’s wants and needs.

4. Segment leads based on consumer profiles

Sales reps have a better knowledge of your B2B customers when leads are segmented based on extremely precise demographics, behaviors, and purchasing histories. They can use this newfound expertise to their advantage when it comes to closing deals and staying one step ahead of the competition.

Qualified leads are typically segmented based on the path they take to get to your sales funnel. You can further segment leads by profiles to give your sales team a better idea of the company they’re dealing with and how to meet their expectations.

5. Acquire the ability to foretell the future

Improve the accuracy of your sales estimates and your long-term strategy. You can figure out which features your clients enjoy and dislike based on their previous behavior. Consider which of your websites are the most popular, especially those that correlate with your ICPs.

You’ll be able to create expansion plans and marketing efforts that are specific to your target companies if you have more precise sales estimates. You can predict the customer’s journey more accurately with the help of customer insights. Create an accurate customer path map using your B2B-specific CRM system to better understand your ICP’s purchasing habits.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software enhances your ability to deliver positive customer experiences throughout the whole customer lifecycle. CRM analytics give you the information you need to know about your customers so you can give them the best service possible and grow your business.

It’s also possible to evaluate your organization’s current state and discover areas for improvement by looking at CRM analytics, such as implementing efforts to increase sales enablement or marketing or improving customer service. One of the subjects that warrants investigation is how to maintain great interactions with customers. A CRM system might be a big help in this regard.

Here are the following CRM metrics that you should track:

• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Sales Cycle Duration
• Customers Churn
• Customer Retention Cost
• Net additional income
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

1. Customer Effort Score (CES)

Similar to the above, but in a slightly different way, this score indicates how satisfied customers are with their purchase. How easy or difficult it is for customers to work with your company. You only need to inquire about one thing. Getting an item, getting help with a query, or contacting customer service takes how much effort? Customers will be less satisfied with your product or service if your CES score is lower.

2. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The higher the score, the more satisfied the customer is. You can find out how your customers feel about your business by asking them to rate their experience with your firm on a scale of 1 to 10.This feedback system is flexible and may be tailored to meet your specific needs.

3. Sales Cycle Duration

Measuring your company’s sales cycle time will help you better understand how long it takes for you to close deals. You should avoid comparing your sales cycle to that of other sectors because it depends on a range of factors. Instead, pay attention to the activities that result in conversions and the amount of interactions necessary to complete the purchase.

4. Customers Churn

Customer turnover, customer attrition, or customer churn is a measure of how many consumers you’ve lost over a given period of time, regardless of what you call it. There are a slew of reasons to keep an eye on this particular metric. Customer churn monitoring is critical since it helps you understand why customers are leaving and how to keep them on board for the long run.

5. Net additional income

How many new customers do you bring in? Measuring your net new revenue allows you to see how much money your company makes each month, quarter, or year from bringing on new customers. Use this measure to see if your marketing campaigns, email triggers, or other events are encouraging growth.

6. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

In other words, it measures how much it costs your business on average to bring on one new customer every year. Expenses related to a single sale include marketing, employee training, software, and other costs. To find out whether you need to automate and cut costs, or if you have the freedom to go on an acquisition drive, you can utilize this CRM metric.

7. Customer Retention Cost

The cost of acquiring a new customer can be compared to this metric. It measures the cost of keeping current customers rather than attracting new ones. Retargeting, email campaigns, and customer loyalty programs all cost firms money to keep customers. This metric can help you determine whether or not your attempts to increase retention are paying off.

Many companies rely heavily on their CRM system, which serves as the foundation for all client communications. Marketing, sales, customer service, and the supply chain all benefit from a CRM system’s ability to document the whole customer lifetime, from lead creation through the first encounter. AI can improve your CRM in a number of ways which include the following:

• Enhance customer profiles
• Respond more quickly to inquiries
• Increase the number of consumers you interact with
• Understanding client requests better
• Chatbots for 24/7 customer support

1. Enhance customer profiles

AI-enhanced CRM systems are able to construct optimal customer profiles from data on future and existing customers because of their remarkable pattern detecting skills. After that, each new lead or contact can be viewed in the context of your client record. This helps you to focus your marketing efforts on the most likely customers.

2. Respond more quickly to inquiries

Responding to customer inquiries as promptly as possible is critical. It’s not going to take long for customers to get fed up and go on. With AI-enhanced CRM solutions, there are numerous methods to automate and speed up customer communication.

First, AI NLP technologies can help categorize incoming requests and route them to the right people for a response. Prioritizing requests based on customer profiles and communication history is possible when these solutions are used in conjunction with your CRM system.

Customer inquiries should be answered quickly, even if they require face-to-face follow-ups. This shows that the customer’s problems are being addressed and provides a human touch.

3. Increase the number of consumers you interact with

Client acquisition and retention may be hindered by language barriers in today’s global corporate world. Even firms that cater to a certain geographic area are likely to encounter customers who speak a different language than their own. CRM solutions with AI-enhanced communication features enable cross-language communication without the necessity for a bilingual workforce.

4. Understanding client requests better

When a customer asks for something, you have to figure out how urgent and important it is. You can get a sense of your customer’s general mood by using AI-enhanced CRM systems to analyze the request. After that, you can use your own processes to assign the request to the proper support queue.

5. Chatbots for 24/7 customer support

Today’s customers want 24-hour service, regardless of where they live. Customer connections can quickly be harmed as a result of slow response times. While this may sound like a no-brainer for large corporations, it isn’t always the case for smaller enterprises with limited resources.

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are capable of providing your company with round the clock assistance, even if your personnel are absent. They are typically able to competently resolve customer complaints and questions. And even if they can’t, you’ve shown the consumer that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. After that, you’ll be able to follow up with a personal encounter during regular office hours. The customer’s experience is enhanced as a result of the communication chain remaining intact.

We have access to leads as they enter our sales funnel as email marketers. They enable us to nurture leads and manage the flow of information across the sales funnel. Understanding the logic and reasons behind the purchase choice is critical. You’ve completed your due diligence for more in-depth email marketing campaigns. You must concentrate on your company’s time, money, and resources. The most crucial component, though, is your “database” and how you may expand it. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Identify the Source
• Track Influence
• Register Closed Deals
• Treat Customers Fairly
• Use Video Explainers

1. Identify the Source

Establishing the original-source field is the first step in calculating your ROI. Every contact in your email marketing database should have this field set. Paid ads, social media, online events, search engines, and other activities promoted outside of your website could all be considered original sources. The goal is to figure out where and how you received this contact’s information as soon as possible.

2. Track Influence

You may now assign point values to each digital interactions after classifying your connections as “marketing sourced” or “sales sourced.” You’ll be able to keep a better eye on your conversion data this way. You have a terrific platform to manage such complicated data with Email Marketing Automation, and this will have a huge impact on your sales decision.

3. Register Closed Deals

You can do this through the use of CRM system. This will be quite beneficial to your B2B marketing plan. CRM allows you to track your customers’ overall lifetime worth, and it’s critical that you do so while taking into account all of the data you’ve collected and the credit points you’ve earned for each sale.

4. Treat Customers Fairly

It’s important to realize that not every customer is the same. They have various requirements and motives for purchasing from you. It comes with unique expectations, necessitating a unique approach. As a result, effective database administration will be required. You can locate CRM systems that will assist you in doing just that. This will help you see what works for you and what doesn’t on your route to closing the deal. Identifying where you fall short in your sales funnel will help you avoid losing customers or having a low conversion rate.

5. Use Video Explainers

Video explainers are generally successful in connecting with B2B buyers, according to email marketers. The explainer video is a short film that tells a tale about your company and provides information to potential clients. This is a one-of-a-kind offer.

Conclusion

You may nurture a lead through the sales funnel to maximize your sales success by following these steps. The goal is to convert a “not now” into a sale and thereby increasing the quantity and size of your sales.