Time to cut costs and jobs or time to invest in your business?

The studies show that the companies that recover quickest from a recession are those that didn’t lay everybody off when the going got tough but that invested in their customer relationships and in growing their market share.

(Source:Study by Bain & Company – Article by Robert B.  Miller, Founder Miller Heiman. Read the whole article at http://www.millerheiman.com/)

Robert says “A slow market is the time to consider doubling down on sales resources”.

What can we do?

Now is the time to be active and ambitious with your business’s sales effort.

I don’t just mean finding new customers  (this is, of course, important) but also making sure you keep the ones you’ve got and maybe capture more of their spending or sell them something more often. Think about your customer service, about the quality of your products and services, about how everyone in your business interacts with your customers and potential customers.

This is nothing new – just more important now there is less of the pie to share around. Those who will fail are the ones whose businesses don’t compare well. When people have less to spend, they are more choosy about where they spend it.

Be the place they want to spend it and make sure they know that you are the place they should want to spend it!

Predictions

Watch for the disappearance from the field of play of companies that don’t provide a good service or that don’t take care of the customers  - by providing good products and services, by paying attention to relationships (important word, that one) and by making sure that their customer are aware that they are doing this (marketing).

Watch companies that cut advertising and marketing spend, sales and customer service staff and who cut corners on quality make their own predictions of disaster come true as they lose market share to companies that do.

Watch for an increase in low-cost, targeted marketing (see CI Marketing’s article for predictions of marketing trends for this year)

Watch some new businesses appear and steal everyone’s heart by doing what some of the old one have been doing for ages only better.

What can you do?

Read our sales pitch below but…….

1.       Go through your database of customers (please say you have one) and make sure they have all been called by someone in your business – to make sure they are happy with what they’ve been buying from you, to see if they’d like to buy something else and to make sure they know what you have to sell them (you’d be surprised how many don’t know your full range)

2.       Tighten up your sales process and your sales team’s behaviour – do all your customers get asked if they’d like to buy something extra? (Think MacDonalds and their up sell questions – everybody gets asked three times). Work out an appropriate (and not annoying) way of giving them the opportunity to buy something more than what they’re thinking of right now and make sure they always get asked – a checklist is helpful.

3.       Start using your database to remind people that you exist or encourage them to re-visit your business and buy again. Honestly, it is a mistake to think that, because they’ve bought once, you have their custom and loyalty for the foreseeable future – you don’t. Make sure your business makes contact with them and asks them to buy.

(Please read the above and understand that these communications need to use language and messages appropriate to your business and your market. We’re not advising you to look desperate or to make yourself or your salespeople feel like spivs – but you can send these messages in ways that your customers will accept. Call us if you want to discuss this.)

How can Small Fish help?

Obviously, we’d like to be the place where you spend some of your money – we’re business coaches and we really believe we can help you improve your business’s sales efforts, customer service and quality – by: