Copyright (c)
2009 Alan Gillies
http://L2LGroup.com/free-resource-pack/
As
all of us are very aware, we are in one of the most difficult eras for business
since the Great Depression in the 1930's. Unemployment is rising at an incredible
rate, and businesses everywhere are going bankrupt daily. When we end up in situations
like these, then we have to begin looking carefully at our current business strategy
and find ways where we can generate more revenues and cash flow.
In
this article I am going to go over what I believe to be 4 Key points to concentrate
on in periods like these - that being said, they are critical areas for any business
at any time. Get a grip on these areas and you will give yourself the best possible
chance to survive in the tough times and really prosper in the good times.
Communication
How
you communicate internally and externally is crucial, both your employees and
your customers need and want to hear reassuring messages and to see you acting
in a positive and strong fashion. It's all too easy in difficult times to fall
into a sort of paralysis and to reduce your visibility both internally and to
your customers
............don't !!
In times of crisis
it is imperative that you have a clear communication strategy for your internal
and external customers. Your employees may be worried about their jobs and their
prospects, and your silence will do nothing to conquer their fears. If they are
obviously concerned, rumours will begin, and before you know what's happening,
the quality of work will decline and the best ones will start searching elsewhere
for the job security that they're looking for.
The information
that your customers are receiving - if it doesn't come from you, will be from
the media and the rumour mill, and all too often if they have nothing to persuade
them otherwise, you will be lumped in with everyone else in your sector or industry,
and before you know it, the trust and reputation that you have spent years building
up will be gone.
Even worse than no communication is poor
communication, so make sure that you communicate early, often and be as clear
as possible. Do not be tempted to save some money by reducing your communication
- this is a false economy. It doesn't have to be expensive to communicate nowadays,
as there are many inexpensive ways to communicate with your staff and customers.
Look to online media such as Intranets, Blogs, and Ezines or in the case of staff,
talk directly to them, and work with them to generate ideas that will enhance
your business and make you stronger. Now isn't the time to leave them alone and
in the dark.
Customers
One fundamental
rule in business is that it is far more expensive to go out and get a new customer
than it is to keep an existing one. Challenge yourself and ask yourself what you
are doing to ensure that you are keeping your existing customers happy and coming
back, rather than forgetting about them to focus exclusively on new customers.
I'm not saying don't look for new business, I am saying don't sacrifice your existing
customers in the search for new ones.
Your current customers
already have a positive experience with you and what you do, and they will most
likely be far easier to access than new customers. Look for ways to cross-sell,
and also search for discounts and special offers. Do you have a structured approach
in place for how you will deal with customers after they have placed an order
or when you have made a sale? Make customer retention a key platform for your
business. How good is your customer service? If you don't know, find out - and
fast. In my view, one of the biggest differentiators of businesses is the quality
of customer service; unfortunately it isn't that complicated these days to set
yourself apart positively on almost any detail of customer service. My experience
with most businesses and organisations is that customer service is quite commonly
poor, and all too often, shocking. It doesn't cost much to put in place policies
and procedures that will make your customer service top notch. Trust me, if you
do this your customers will notice, and they will come back and be prepared to
buy more.
Who are your most valuable customers? Again, many
businesses do not know this and they spend lots of time, money and effort on those
customers who don't add much to their bottom line. Once you know who the most
valuable customers are - focus on them, ditching the least valuable ones if necessary.
The Pareto Principle applies to just about every industry I know, in more or less
the same way - why spend time, money and effort on those low profit customers
when you could be focussing all that work and targeted investment into the most
profitable individuals.
Marketing
Don't
stop spending on marketing. Yes, look at your marketing expenses and what you
are getting back, and if it's not viable, look at other ways to do this better.
Again, with current technology and approaches you can market effectively without
it costing the earth. Sometimes it just takes a bit more effort to evaluate what
you are doing and where you are focusing your efforts.
Have
you really segmented your customer base? Do you know who your target customers
are and the most effective channels to access them? If your target segment is
18-25 yr olds, a full page spread in the Daily Telegraph isn't likely to be the
most effective way to access this market. Don't be seduced by the Social Networking
hype and blindly start Twittering and spending all of your time on Facebook and
Bebo, yes they can be effective - but not for everyone, don't just follow the
herd unless you have done your research. Once you know who you are targeting,
and the way that group gets their information or makes their buying decisions,
THEN go down that route.
An effective marketing strategy
doesn't have to be costly, but it does need careful planning and consistency of
approach.
Training
One of the first
areas that companies often cut back on is training. I for one cannot understand
the rationale for this. If you look at other areas such as sport, if things get
tougher and more challenging, you don't tend to see people saying, might as well
not bother with the training sessions then, as things are more difficult and the
competition is tougher than last year.
Short-sighted companies
cut back on their training, but the clever ones see this time as an opportunity
to make themselves more effective and competent, so they can better survive the
downturn and make the most of the inevitable upturn. Like the other areas, challenge
yourself as to whether you're doing the right things and are getting good value
for your money from the training that you're doing - but don't cut your training
resources. If your staff are really well trained and effective, not only will
they be more motivated and comfortable with their job security, but they may find
ways of winning more business and keeping your current customers a little bit
better than your competition.
