Don’t just hope for the best
Twenty tactics for tough times
By John Graham
There’s only one problem business people face when times are good and that’s getting sloppy. It’s easy to be deluded by success, to believe that your success is due to your
incredible ability to convince customers to do business with you. If the truth
were told, customers were flush with cash and just wanted to place the order.
For the moment — and perhaps longer — customers are cautious, somewhat fearful and far less willing to sign our
orders. They are far more thoughtful and slower to act. In such circumstances,
what are business people to do? Simply hope for the best or emphasize lower
prices?
Here are twenty tough times tactics:
1. Keep customers and prospects informed, but don’t bombard. There’s been hardly a day since January that the warehouse retailer, Costco, hasn’t sent e-mails to its customers.
2. Don’t blink. There’s a tendency to want to hunker down and let the storm go by.
This is the time to increase your visibility, particularly since the competition
will likely become invisible, waiting for the good times to roll.
3. Offer help. What customers need more than anything else is help with innovative
ideas. Be their sounding board. You’re the expert. Offer them help.
If you can’t be of assistance, you don’t get business. Show them you can deliver more than a product or service.
4. Stay away from stupidity. In tougher times, the scam artists come out of the
woodwork to prey on companies feeling the impact of a downturn.
It’s easy to be drawn to such offers as “100 FREE leads” or “we’ll make you more appointments than you can handle.” Business people are believers who fall for a good sales pitch.
5. Hang on to customers. In the summer of 2007, Sprint Nextel sent out letters
canning a group of customers who called too much. While getting rid of high
maintenance customers may seem tempting, it can backfire.
Wharton professors Jagmohan Raju and Z. John Zhang indicate that dumping
low-value customers may actually reduce profits, while efforts to enhance their
value can be counterproductive.
Fidelity Investments lets low-value customers wait longer for their calls to be
answered, and devotes more time to high-value customers.
Instead of firing high maintenance, low-value customers, a better approach may
be to keep them, but find more efficient ways to serve them.
6. Get serious about prospecting. The goal of a prospecting program is long-term
growth, not instant sales.
Get serious about identifying those who fit the profile of your best customers
and start staying in touch with them via opt-in e-mail. Let them get to know
that you’re serious, competent and can help them. It pays off over time.
7. Focus on value. A clear shift is taking place with buyers. They want to know, “Where’s the value?”
If this isn’t made clear, will they go elsewhere? A business owner tells of purchasing a
high-end color printer and not once had the dealer made any effort to add
value.
“The only time they called us was when there was a 100 percent increase in the
cost of supplies,” he said. “We’ll buy the next printer online.”
8. Make every meeting valuable. Most meetings waste time. Stop just dropping in on
customers.
Have a clear purpose when you ask for a meeting and make sure the customer
agrees that it is worthwhile.
9. Answer communications. Prompt, clear and complete telephone and e-mail responses
send the message that you’re timely and efficient, qualities that will set you apart. Use the spell-check,
too.
10. Know the economy. Reading trade publications is essential, but not enough. Know
what’s going on in the economy, both short and long term.
If you must choose one source make it USA Today online (usatoday.com), for
concise, helpful and accurate information.
11. Keep your antennae up. It’s easy to get blindsided in tougher times. Listen to customers.
Don’t ignore their concerns and fears. Make sure you speak to these issues. It sends
the message that you are in sync with them.
12. Show customers ways to reduce costs. Don’t assume your customers believe you are looking for ways to save them money.
In fact, they may actually feel you want to do just the opposite! Always be
alert for cost-cutting solutions and be sure to let them know that this is how
you’re working for them.
13. Tighten your schedule. We all fall into regular routines. We’d go nuts if we didn’t. Yet, that can work against us.
Giving customers proper attention takes time, including making certain we stay
in contact with them. If your routines haven’t changed, you may be wasting valuable time.
14. Introduce proprietary products. There is nothing that can be more useful and
beneficial than proprietary products and services.
Look at your supermarket’s shelves. “Name brands” are disappearing and lower cost “store brands” are taking up more space.
Proctor & Company, a Massachusetts-based employee benefit firm, introduced its “Proctor Plan” to differentiate it from others in the industry and to have a healthcare
product that maintains quality but reduces employer costs.
15. Always tell the truth. While being truthful is always essential, it’s even more important in difficult times.
This is when customers need candid, thoughtful advice more than ever. It’s at such times as this that you can demonstrate to customers your true value.
16. Make every minute count. For example, never call a meeting without having an
agenda. Also set time limits for meetings.
17. Stop the jargon and BS. Tougher times require plain, clear, direct talk. Some
customers will tolerate it in good times, but not when they are stressed and
under pressure.
Stop acting as if everything is coming up roses. If you don’t, you’ll come across as disingenuous or a fake.
18. Be patient. Acting rushed sends customers the message that you’re panicked. We don’t see it as much in ourselves as we do in others — and we don’t want to be around them.
Both Pottery Barn and Costco have been eBlasting customers since the holidays,
at least two and three times a week. It gives the feeling they’re running scared. It’s time to nurture customers, not bombard them.
19. Don’t over promise. This is a tough one. When there are fewer or smaller orders,
business people often have trouble resisting the temptation to over promise
just to get a sale. Then, when you can’t deliver on the promise, the empty excuses only serve to undermine your
credibility and the next order goes to a competitor.
20. Don’t rely on the past. While Shakespeare said, “The past is prologue,” it may not be today. It’s always more comfortable to look backward than forward and to talk about what
may lie ahead than face up to our track record.
Where we have been is more comfortable than an unknown future. How many business
owners say, for example, “I know what my customers want,” while totally oblivious to the changing behavior, needs and wants. They are
blinded by a past that may lead them down the wrong path.
In tough times, business is tougher than ever. To be successful, to buck the
trends, make use of every resource you can.
John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and
sales consulting firm. He is an author of several books, writes for a variety
of publications and speaks at association meetings. He can be contacted by
phone at (617) 328-0069. His company’s web site is www.grahamcomm.com.
