Know-How Exchange : Strategy

In a crisis, budgets will drop and fewer customers will buy, so you should have in your plan some recognition that revenues are likely to slip so you need some flexibility to cut your budget during the year, so arrange for must haves versus nice-to-haves in the budget.

Customers are more likely to look for value. So can you reconfigure the offer to reduce prices (eg on-site versus off-site training). They may also focus on existing suppliers rather than take risks with new people.

There may be opportunities in offering free places to select people on events as they are likely to have lower discretionary spend and so more interest in these offers. If you are good enough, then when budgets return, they can easily become a good client.

You might want to listen to a recent MarketingProfs seminar ("Marketing in an Economic Meltdown") which describes specific strategies for these times:
https://www.marketingprofs.com/marketing/online-seminars/180

In times like this you must be lazar sharp in your marketing. its not just market more, its market smart. You must track your efforts and be ready to make changes. Resiliency is key. Look for areas that are being effected less. In tracking the stock market, we see Coke (not pepsi) and J&J have met and beat projections. Consumer Reports just stated some areas we will cut costs, and others we won't accept generics. Lawyers in times like these will thrive. You will also have to be open to creative ways to accept payment. Effected firms need your services -- but are scared to put scarce dollars into something that won't work Consider shorter contracts so they can see results-- or partial payment strictly performance based-- or stronger guarantees.

Sell Well and Prosper tm

Your Management will possibly advise for cuts and advertising will be the first on line for the ax. However, be aware because to abandon branding in difficult times does not pay off on the long term. So reconsider new avenues to advertise. Think about social networks (Facebook, YouTube, etc). Keep your brand noise but perhaps with new instruments. Do not recur to promotions only as your products will smell as cheap which neither pays off on a long term. You could have to reduce part of your staff. That is one issue but consider outsourcing as a replacement. Knowledge is more than necessary now to dodge the crisis but focus on subjects dealing directly with your kind of business or have seminars tailored made to you. Demand will slow or just will go down but people will still eat, drink, entertain, have children and this will go to school, walk, get sick and die. These are needs that will continue to be filled with wants. Values will not sink. The key is to make sure you have the right wants at the price people can pay and with the brand values they expect. Only if there is an absolute break down of the economy (like 1929) will we become generic consumers and still brands will survive. Hope this helps!

In times of trouble people switch their value perceptions. Moving from growth & wants oriented to cost control and needs. Position your product - either as a lower cost substitute for something else or as a got to have to survive.

Training - change to save money by training rather than grow your business

Consulting - if you can point to elimination of waste or reductions of cost - you win

Roxanna - My marketing colleagues gave you useful suggestions. Let me add another to consider: send clients a letter or an email with tips to help them through the economic crunch right now. You can focus on one area (maybe training) and come up with some economical ways your clients could continue training staff with fewer dollars-- perhaps with webinars, teletraining, daily/weekly emails with links etc.
Let them know you're available to tailor a program for their current needs. Hope this helps.

Corpcommer - MC

The best piece of advice I can give is that of Corporal Jones (Played by Clive Dunn) from the classic British TV comedy, “Dad’s Army” It is “Don’t panic Captain Mainwaring, don’t panic” whilst running around like a 70 year old headless chicken.

In a recession or even a depression, we tend to talk ourselves into self-justified inactivity, cut the things that actually make us money and forget that even in an economic climate where the real economy has dropped spending by 10 %, that still leaves, in the United Kingdom, some £4.4 trillion which people. Corporations and government is going to spend in the next 12 months. When I last checked, 95% of the stores on the high street (Main Street to the Yanks) and all the shops and supermarkets in the out-of-town shopping areas were still open. So were 99% of the firms in our local trading estate.

Your goal should be to single mindedly make sure that you get your fair share of that money and my colleagues have exemplified some very useful tactics. I don’t know what the spending figure for the US of A is for the next 12 months, but it probably has more zeros after the $ sign than I have space for on my posting, so go get your share of that. All you need to do is to constantly remind yourself that this money is being spent and then set your plans, starting with your mental attitude, to go out an get it.

Simple really, it boils down to belief in yourself, your product, your company and the fact that your compatriots are still going to spend a humongous amount of dosh, a tiny share of which will meet all your targets.

Of course, if you slash marketing budgets and sit in a darkened room for the next 12 months it isn’t going to happen, so the choice is really yours!

Best wishes

Steve Alker
Xspirt