C-R-I-S-I-S Spells Opportunity

There is opportunity in every crisis. The questions then are how will you identify it and react to it?

In the most recent Global Business Outlook survey conducted by CFO magazine and Duke University, it was reported that 65 percent of chief financial officers interviewed do not anticipate significant economic recovery to commence within a year.

So what’s the opportunity? It’s all around you. According to a Harvard Business Review study, companies that increase their marketing efforts during a recession, can improve market share and return on investment at a lower cost than during good economic times.

“Marketing budgets frequently end up on the chopping board during economic uncertainties,” said Joanne Rigby, marketing director for Premiere Global Services Inc. (www.premiereglobal.com), a global provider of communication technologies-based solutions.

Fortunately, it is not all doom and gloom, continued Rigby. “The fact is many do not have the luxury of increasing their marketing spending.” Nevertheless, most marketers know that in order to remain competitive and be able to emerge from a downturn, they need to deploy smarter and more strategic marketing approaches that will set them apart from their competitors.

The current economic outlook has resulted in many businesses turning to more cost-effective and quantifiable strategies, such as e-mail marketing, that ensure measurable and return-on-investment (ROI) driven results. A vast majority of companies see tremendous value in e-mail marketing and they continue to spend money on it throughout 2009. A recent Jupiter Research report noted that e-mail marketing is set to grow 75 percent by 2012, to become a $2.1 billion in the United States alone.

Maintain Your Focus

Not all customers are the same. Each of us has A, B, and C clients. While no one is getting rid of clients in this marketplace it can pay to focus on where you’re getting the most bang for your buck and who will be around in the future to continue doing business with you.

Customers who you can identify with a strong potential for future business should be high on your priority list. Try to identify the growth industries where demand will be strong once an economic recovery takes hold. Ways to identify promising prospects include looking for who’s got strong cash flow (pays their bills on time), spotting companies investing in equipment, personnel and technology, and identifying those clients and prospects with forward-thinking management, innovative product lines and a staff that regularly exhibits high morale and an upbeat attitude.

Be Prepared for Turbulence

Are your orders shrinking or coming in less frequently? Pay attention to what your customers are telling you and be prepared to improvise in response. What are you doing to fill the gap?

Every recession makes an impact on the survivors and many will not return to so-called free-spending ways of the past. Adjustments they make today for many will be permanent. You’ll need to react to this as well. Can you obtain new customers? Can you run a more efficient operation? Should you consider a merger or acquisition? What about new business lines, products or services? Outsourcing is a growing force. If you can provide graphic services or discounted shipping and as a result help clients save money, you’ll probably win a long-term relationship.

Offer Discounts Wisely

Arbitrarily offering discounts is usually a poor decision that erodes your brand as well as your income. Although sales and discounts have become very fashionable, in fact expected by some clients, you have greater leverage to maintain pricing power than you may realize. Customers who have come to depend on you for reliable service and first-rate work will generally understand a price increase when a reasonable explanation can be made, such as a delivery charge in the face of rising fuel costs. But in such cases, be proactive and offer alternatives. Explain to customers why you must maintain or raise your prices and let them know you’re doing everything possible to keep any increases reasonable. Maybe a customer can use a lesser paper stock or can lower costs by sharing a press run with another job.

Help Others

While we should not need a recession to remind us of this, now can be a very good time to offer services to help non-profits in your community. UPrinting.com is offering a 10 percent discount on all online print orders (up to $150) for any eligible non-profit or charity. In addition, the U-Community program offers four different sponsorship programs exchanging UPrinting.com logo placement and Web links for free printing credits. A non-profit can earn free full-color brochures, business cards, flyers, banners and other products in exchange for acknowledging UPrinting.com’s support on its Web site and promotional materials.

“It was a way for us as a company to give back to our community and our clients’ communities,” said Ronnie Mesriani, CEO of UPrinting.com. “We truly believe in social responsibility and this was a way for UPrinting.com to show our support.”

Donations are down for most non-profits, providing discounted or free services to such benevolent organizations can build great goodwill and community recognition for your business. And when things improve, it could result in profitable business for you.

Every crisis ends. Be sure that when this one does you’ll be in better shape than you were when it began.Contact Joe Finora at [email protected].