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Recession Proofing Your Business

By Jacqueline Drew
President & Principal Consultant
START Marketing inc.
www.startmarketing.com
 
 
With the U.S Economy slowing down for a possible recession, you may be wondering what lies ahead for your business.   Now I'm not saying it'll happen here in Canada, but it doesn't hurt to consider some ideas we can offer for recession-proofing your business with better marketing:
 
1. The first thing you should do is look at your client list.  Does one of your clients make up more than 1/3 of your revenue? Do most of your clients fall within the same industry? If so, then you've got to diversify your client base. Think hard about odd projects you've had in the past ­ requested by clients who weren't typical of your usual ones. Let those experiences guide your creative thinking into areas or markets where you haven't expanded yet. Be bold enough to think about what you COULD be doing, not what you HAVE been doing.  Then, build a plan of attack to get into those new markets, perhaps by hiring a salesperson or assigning someone to make calls into new markets.

2. Follow-up on past jobs.  If you haven't heard from projects you¹ve bid on, or past jobs you've completed, it's a good time to do so before work slows down.  You can often get your sales funnel refilled just by following up on clients who might have forgotten about you.

3. Start marketing actively.  While your competitors are contracting their marketing, trying to retrench their overhead costs, and expecting business to slow down ­ you can take the opportunity to gain market share.  Boost your search engine rankings with an SEO campaign.  Try an event to let people what¹s new in your business.  Or send out some direct mail to your customer database.

4. Add a new product or service.  If you can add a new product that will appeal to your existing target customers, you'll be able to boost sales for customers you already have.  Moreover, it gives you something new to talk about with your customers, and gives you a forward-moving impression that is important to maintain an image of leadership.

5. Conduct some informal research.  Now is a great time to find out if your customers are happy, and if there is anything more you could be doing for them.  Call them up, tell them you'd love their ideas and input, and see if they'll accommodate you by feeding you some ways to better service them.  If you take those ideas, show you've used them, and go back to them with a new, improved service, they'll feel thrilled to have been a part of your decision, and very likely to buy it from you.
 
The upshot is, recession marketing is pretty much like marketing during any other time, but only the gutsiest businesses do it. Be one of them, and you'll enjoy saying to everyone else, "What recession?"