These are exceptional times. In addition, most firms are under severe financial strain as a result of the war, recession, the pandemic, and their wide-ranging consequences. Understandably, many management teams and business owners are looking for strategies for maintaining growth during a recession.
The difficulty is that adopting a fearful worldview frequently results in a self-causing recession. This is due to the fact that those who work from a place of fear generate contraction rather than growth.
We’ve been conditioned by nature to either flee or fight. We assume a defensive posture when we’re ready for flight in order to minimize potential losses or to just stay afloat. The problem is that these are the very acts that will cause businesses to downsize or possibly fail as a result of layoffs and lower revenues.
How do some businesses thrive in a recession?
Some businesses, on the other hand, not only survive but thrive during the most inconvenient of circumstances. Therefore, how do they do it?
The distinction is that some management teams and business owners regard a crisis as an opportunity. Therefore, when you think about it, every cloud has a silver lining. At the absolute least, there is always an opportunity that develops in the face of adversity in the case of business.
Avoid reacting emotionally.
While the natural impulse may be to reduce corporate activities and cut costs wherever possible, doing so indiscriminately would have the opposite effect. Businesses that thrive during economic downturns double down on their efforts. This is because they know that growth will take more effort, time, and resources at this key stage. Therefore, to obtain more customers, you might have to work ten times harder.
However, if you are ready to put in the effort, you will get more clients. At the same time, your competitors will be losing customers and personnel if they are acting fearfully.
Here are five main techniques for maintaining growth even in a recession.
1. Maintaining growth means boosting your marketing and public relations initiatives.
Effective promotion and marketing generate sales, as most CEOs know. They also understand that during a recession, the majority of other firms, including competitors, will cut back on marketing spending. However, this is an opportunity to do more.
This is when smart companies ramp up their advertising and marketing campaigns in order to stay ahead of their competitors. Those who are cutting back are driving their businesses into the ground at the same time.
2. Maintaining growth means eliminating the bottom 20% of your consumer base.
This does not apply to e-commerce companies. However, everyone else should be aware. This strategy seems unlikely to help. You may be wondering whether, at a time like this, you can afford to lose customers.
The truth is, yes, you can. In addition, this is how smart leaders succeed. We’ve all dealt with clients who are tough to work with, late to pay, or who require a disproportionate amount of resources in comparison to the money they create. Therefore, cut these clients immediately. This is because increasing your marketing efforts will bring in new business. This change will require the same internal resources that low-yield customers are consuming now.
3. Provide additional assistance to your customers.
Make a list of the problems that your clients may be facing during the downturn. Think about how you, your partners, or your vendors can help clients withstand the storm better with your team. In addition, reach out to your customers and inquire about their problems in order to give them assistance.
Offer to do something for free. You can do this if there is something you can do without increasing your expenditures. You might offer to deliver something with payment terms or at a discount rate.
4. Maintaining growth means streamlining operations and providing a better client experience.
You now have extra time on your hands. You can use it to improve internal processes. Further, you can improve the quality of your deliverables in addition to setting up a system to provide top customer service.
If you want to come out on top after this storm, you’ll have to outperform your competitors. You can do so by providing the best customer service in a more efficient manner. This will significantly lower client churn while also allowing you to service more customers.
5. Fire your worst employees and convince your other employees that you care about their well-being.
There’s a good chance you’ve kept people on board because you needed all the support you could get. These folks, on the other hand, are chronic underachievers who don’t get along with others and have lots of other troubles. Now is the moment to let them work for the competition. It will benefit both your team and your customers.
Now go tell the rest of the team why you did it. After that, let them know how much you care about them and will go to any length, including falling into the red this year, to ensure that they and their health insurance are protected. Furthermore, fulfill this commitment. Your company’s success depends on the trust you have with your employees.
Your company may not only survive but prosper in this storm if you have an offensive plan, an expansionary attitude, and a proactive approach.
Image Credit: Lukas; Pexels; Thank you!
