Nicholas Bate

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 20

Something new. That's what's needed. Something to re-engage your customers, to start new conversations; to get them spending with you (again). What 'new' would you customers like?

1. Makes their life easier e.g. free carry-to-car service if they shop on Wednesday which is your all-time quiet day;
2. Shrinks their costs e.g. ten people per workshop instead of eight;
3. Informs them e.g. free informative e-letter once per month;
4. Gives them an edge on their competitors e.g. daily stock reporting at no extra cost compared to weekly stock reporting;
5. Impresses them e.g. even better customer service.

Beat the Recession; Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 19

Stop and think. Stop and think. Stop and think:

1. What's working? How can we do more of that quickly, even more effectively?
2. What's holding us back? How can we stop that? Or move around it? Or...?
3. What are we missing? What is so blindingly obvious if we just went for a walk around the Mall and talked?
4. What haven't we done because we are worried about potential conflict? But the cost to the business is huge, as it won't go away until it is addressed.
5. Why are we rushing around so much when a short stop and think answers most of our concerns?

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 18

In a recession where budgets and head-count are generally tight it's tricky to create breakthroughs in business by dramatic initiatives: they are simply not available.  But multiple small steps can be squeezed from the most lean of businesses: 0.2% improvement here times 0.07% improvement here times 1.2% improvement there. It works. What if:

1. Everybody was on time every time. The store opened at 0859 rather than 0905. The call centre operators were cheerful from 0800 rather than after first coffee-break?
2. Proposals were checked by someone. To check price, T&C and a good executive summery?
3. All customer areas looked and were welcoming. Flowers, fresh newspaper, appropriate literature and welcoming staff. Oh and visitor car-parking space available.
4. Some kind of skill development happened very day.
5. The staff suggestion box was re-introduced and used.

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 17

Your brain is your greatest asset in this recession. You need it for creativity, for focus, to decide priorities and put aside stress. Fatigue is the killer of these marvellous assets and many comment to me how poor their sleep has become: broken, anxious and of insufficient quality.

1. Return the bedroom to a sanctuary, not an office nor store-room;
2. Check the basics: decent mattress, enough air circulation, room darker etc;
3. Stop all the crazy stuff such as late night e-mail while sitting up in bed;
4. Care with caffeine in the last few hours before sleep and consider a few alcohol-free nights if sleep is poor;
5. Get some good CV exercise during the day; muscle fatigue and chemical release aid natural quality sleep.

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 16

Don't suffer alone. There are some similar, non-competitive businesses to you that you could help and in return they could help you. In what ways?

1. Exchanging ideas. How have they managed to get some payments up-front?
2. Spotting opportunities for each other. They are in architecture, you are in air-conditioning.
3. Doing a joint mail-shot. You consult on Productivity. They consult on Presenting. Instead of each of you doing your 2-day workshop what about a special day of each so long as you get the work 'as a package'.
4. Talking to a different person who sparks ideas.
5. And simply feeling good for helping a business which is finding it tough.

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 15

Keep the marketing going. People are spending. Less, of course. Less frequently, certainly. But people are buying consultancy, white goods, holidays, training courses, meals, insurance and Lego pirate ships. You just need to be there when they do.

1. Where are your potential customers? What do they do? What do they read?
2. E.g you run a consultancy and sell home security;
3. A lot of your customers use an up-market gym/country-club/spa;
4. How about if you came to an arrangement to have a very simply postcard promotional item put in each locker explaining the benefits of using you?
5. Measure the results. Those who do contact you-what attracted them? Improve the message: improve, improve.

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 14

Don't even think about doing what your competitors are doing:

1. Tens of crazy strategies around price cuts. No: you are focusing on defending and delivering value as indicated by a fair price.
2. Laying off good people. No: you are doing your damnedest to work with people to keep costs down but keep them employed. You are not talking about them in board rooms, you are talking with them at a circular table.
3. Chasing new business. Yes you are doing that, but you keep very, very, very close to your current customers
4. Drinking heavily. No: you are encouraging your team to work hard and then go home and  forget work.
5. Blaming everybody. No: daft things have been done in the past-some possibly by you and/or your company. But that's history. So you are working on what you can change: the future.

Beat The Recession: Twenty-five Clusters of Five: Number 13

In tough times you need to squeeze every bit of top performance that you can out of your team. Try these:

1. Clear short-term goals. OK, guys we need five solid appointments by 3pm. Go.
2. Give immediate feed-back on performance: good or bad. Jack: I need more enthusiasm in your voice.
3. Practise. The pitch, for example. 7 times if necessary.
4. Boost motivation by focusing on what is working.
5. Encourage breaks, staying hydrated and going home on time; rarely does exhaustion produce the best in people.

Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 12

There's an 'er' which is very unhelpful in a recession; that's the 'er, what the heck are we going to do?' But there are five '...er's which are invaluable:

1. Be faster. Answer the phone in one less ring than the competition. Get the quote out in 50% less time than last year.
2. Be smarter. Ask great questions of your client. Help them grow their business or make their life better. Or both.
3. Be leaner. Get rid of unwanted cost immediately.
4. Be meaner. Chase. Politely. Business. More. Often. Now.
5. Be better. Have more uniques.

Beat the Recession: Twenty-Five Clusters of Five: Number 11

Recessions naturally cause us to focus on selling. And selling naturally causes us to focus on stuff such as closing and pitching and objection handling. All well and good. But it won't work and can't work unless we did our marketing in the first place; and a first place to start is good old Kotler's Four Ps. There is often a keenness to change or discard any theory over 12 months old which is a huge shame; in the case of Kotler's thinking much is as robust as the day he first wrote it:

1. Book an away day with your team (yes, I do know there's a recession  on);
2. Review your product: what exactly is it?;
3. Review your pricing: how did you come to those decisions?
4. Review your promotion: how do you connect with your potential customers?
5. Review your place or channel: how do your customers actually buy from you?

I am confident the actions and re-focus you generate will more than re-pay your apparent 'lost' selling time.