by Jimmy Harris and Kent Covington
Imagine for a moment that you’re the pilot of a small plane flying over a vast wilderness. The plane begins to lose altitude, and you realize that it’s too heavy to make it to your destination. To keep from crashing, you’ll need to get rid of any excess weight. Will you toss cargo and luggage? Or, will you instead, jettison fuel, rip out instrument panels and tear the doors off the plane?
The answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?
But somehow, what seems so obvious in flying an airplane gets blurry when we look at our businesses. In an effort to keep our companies from crashing, we’re tempted to jettison sales efforts (fuel); throw out marketing plans (navigational equipment); and even reduce customer service (the equivalent of taking of the doors of your jet)!
And if we make these choices, we’ll never make it across the wilderness of this economic downturn. Having said that, it is certainly both wise and necessary to reduce operational costs in a recession, so here are a few practical keys to help you make it through.
Key #3 - Throw out the dead Weight! Yep: You definitely have to toss something. But if not sales, marketing and customer service, well, what are you going to cut? If you’re like most managers, there are probably a few things you know you could accomplish on a smaller budget, or could do without entirely. Have a third or fourth phone line you never use? Can you make it without part-timers? Could you clean the bathroom yourself?
Try to find things to cut that will make a significant difference in your budget without running the risk of communicating weakness to your customers. No one wants to stay on a sinking ship. For example, (yes, we know it’s a shameless plug) cutting your on-hold advertising service might save you a dollar or two per day, (less if you’re using our co-op program). But losing this service would negatively affect the way your call-in customers experience your business while removing a critical communication line between you and your customers.
Key #2 - Offer a Parachute to the (former) Customers of your failing Competitors:Don’t cut here. Expand. Think about it. Watching business dwindle is scary, but we still have a choice. We can either sit around and complain and wait till the worst is over, or we can choose to see this time for what it really is - an unprecedented opportunity to grab market share! As your competitors get gloomy and start to jettison fuel and throw out navigational equipment, someone will need to serve their remaining customers. Why not you? Get aggressive with your sales and marketing so when your competitor’s customers are sucked out the door through bad customer service, they’ll have a parachute in hand that you sent them earlier. That way, you’ll arrive on the other side of the wilderness with even more customers – and they’ll fly with you again and again! NOTE: Increasing marketing and sales efforts in a down economy is counter-intuitive and will require a lot of creative thought and work, but anyone who wants to survive this economy is going to have get aggressive and take some risks. Slash your sales and marketing efforts at your own peril. A funny thing will happen when you stop inviting people to do business with you!
Key #1 - Bolt the Doors with Exceptional Customer Service!: Just as you should aggressively pursue new customers, if they’re smart, your competitors will begin to do the same thing. It’s time to guard your existing clients like diamonds. “Good” customer service won’t cut it anymore. “Excellent” customer service isn’t enough. You need EXCEPTIONAL service! If the level of service you provide is commensurate with what your competitors offer, you have a problem. You must do things that your competition isn’t doing. You must go farther than they are able or willing to go to serve your customers.
For instance, if the other guys don’t offer coffee to clients when they arrive for supplies in the morning, then you should. If they do offer coffee, why not go one step further? Offer several varieties of coffee shop quality coffee, served in a large cup with a thermal sleeve and a lid, just as they would receive at Starbucks. And instead of just setting it out on a table, why not serve it to them yourself? Maybe it’s not coffee service for you. Maybe it’s something else. You know what it is, don’t you? Little things can make a big difference. And ANYTHING you can do to set yourself apart from competitors is VITAL in times like these.
So, cut unnecessary expenses where you can, but remember that your sales efforts are the fuel of your business, your marketing efforts are your navigational equipment and customer service is what will keep your customers in YOUR aircraft for the entire flight!
One final note: In a bad economy the two greatest enemies to survival and success are fear and inaction. So be aggressive, be creative, and be encouraged! If you outwork and outsmart your competitors now, you’ll land on the other side of the wilderness with all your passengers… and then some!
