Opportunity in Crisis

Maybe I’m a glass half full person, but I’m not alone. The Chinese word weiji, which literally means ‘precarious moment’ contains the character elements, wei, “danger” and ji “opportunity.” The Hebrew word for crisis, mashber, means "moment of birth” or "to give new life." With our country in crisis, the election outcome? The majority voted for “Hope and Change.”

So how is your company coping with the crisis? Is your team prepared for the opportunity? In challenging times, things change. This can be a –good- thing for your business. Here’s why:

Competitors Cave: Your competitors may be more freaked out than you are, and likely doing less. Are they pulling back their advertising? Selling out? It’s a –great- time to advertise with less noise and clutter.

Hungry Marketplace: Everybody’s looking for more business. There are tons of great deals and bargains out there. (Your company could be one of them.)

Vendor Valuation: Cost cutting often means reevaluating suppliers. Allegiances lessen. Prospects you’ve been courting for years may now be more receptive. Smaller businesses have a competitive advantage.

In an economic downturn, most businesses cut costs, with marketing usually top of the list. This is a big mistake. Several documented studies showed conclusively that advertising aggressively during recessions increases sales and profits. (See www.mactech.com:16080/adsales/recession_marketing) If you cut back on marketing, you may be in a worse position when the economy rebounds. Armed with this data and guts, the savvy things to do right now are asking for a marketing budget increase, or at a minimum, maintain some level of marketing.

To survive and thrive in economic stress:

-Hold on to your current customers: Retention is key. It’s significantly less expensive to get more business from current customers than it is to acquire new ones.

-Acquire new ones: New customers are the lifeblood of any business. Scrutinize your sales pipeline: Who are your best customers? Where are you getting your lowest cost per lead? Target carefully.

-Refresh your brand: That same old pitch you’ve been using for years may not resonate today. The market, customer and competitor landscape is different. Sharpen your messaging. Crystallize your value proposition.

- Market aggressively. Customers are skittish. Marketing can show you have stability and solutions to customers’ needs. Potential customers can’t buy from you if they don’t know about you.

The reality is that most businesses get 80% of their business from 20% of their customers. I’ve never been comfortable with that premise, and thankfully Smarti’s client base is more evenly distributed. However, this business principle is your opportunity: You don’t need a million customers—just the right ones.