What does the path look like?
A good friend of mine who is a fantastic Business Coach for ActionCOACH, shared with me a document to set out where we are and where we will get to.
The first step on the pathway was around dealing with the immediate situation, what was coming and putting in place the necessary measures to get through the initial period as well as possible. It was also very much around shifting mindset, accepting the situation and trying to be positive about the opportunities that lay ahead.
The second step was around taking the opportunity during what might be for many businesses, a quieter time with fewer enquiries and orders or projects to fulfil, to look at and review the business. Take some time to adjust forecasts, up-skill, learn, complete administrative tasks and think about strategy.
Step three was around gearing up for the return to more normal business trading opportunities, with your team who may have been furloughed getting ready to return to work, gearing up your mindset and crucially, increasing your marketing activity and presence where your audience is located.
Step four on the path was a significant drive to ramp up marketing further, push for more sales with existing and new clients, and bringing a renewed energy to positioning the business to attract potential customers.
Step five was around moving from a survival mode to a growth mode and ensuring that lessons were learned from this situation. Modifying systems and processes that were efficient, working in a lean way and building up cash reserves so that the business is as insulated from shocks as possible in the future.
Never waste a good crisis.
There is the unfortunate reality that a number of businesses may not make it through this situation, which as a man who has experienced a business failure, genuinely fills me with sadness. It is a terrible thing to go through. It does however mean that the customers these businesses serviced before the Covid-19 crisis will need a new supplier, and therefore a unique situation presents itself to pick up new clients and expand your own client base without having to pry them away from an existing organisation.
There will be a limited time for you to position yourself to these new customers, however, and it will be during step four of the pathway above – which means you need to get your marketing collateral ready to deploy in step three.
What should you be doing?
For many businesses – particularly during this time of lockdown – the website is the shop window. A full review of your site should be happening right now. Does it accurately represent you, does it inspire new customers and does it allow people to get a sense of confidence in your products and services? If the answer to these questions is anything but a resounding “yes”, use this time to get a new site built and deployed, as it isn’t a ‘quick’ process when doing it properly. A website is a significant investment and not one you want to have to make again in the near future, so invest the right amount of time, resources and money into it now which will pay dividends later.
Think about how you are going to get in front of people – social media, LinkedIn, mail shots, e-mail marketing, video brochures, etc. A great way to maximise these and increase engagement with potential customers is through the use of video content. Right now, ‘filming’ people and offices is hard, but perhaps you don’t need to have filmed footage in your video. There are other ways of achieving high production value content without being on set. This might be animated video – which we offer completely in-house – or the use of relevant, quality stock footage. For more information on this, read our video blog from late March to see many of the examples of how this can be delivered.
During this time, people won’t forget who was there to help them through the crisis, giving free and impartial advice and guidance. If you can add value to your existing and potential customer base, do it. Create simple guides, downloads or resources, a blog or vlog to help them understand what they can do. A couple of examples are our wonderful accountants, A4C, putting together a cash flow forecast spreadsheet for clients to just add in the figures, with all the modelling calculations built-in. In a similar fashion, our exceptional payroll provider, Pay-Nex, producing several reference documents on the financial support available for businesses from the government. Be an expert in your field and build goodwill through imparting your knowledge at no charge now, it will likely deliver a greater ROI later.
Should I be spending money right now?
Good question. It’s important to keep cash on hand should any recovery take a little longer than expected or hoped for, but can you really afford not to invest in your marketing to try and attract new customers who may no longer have a supplier?
One of the benefits that have come out of this situation, is historically low interest rates and a number of funding providers that are really struggling to find new customers, as most people have decided to reign back their spending. Because of this, you can access government backed loans, asset financing, traditional bank loans and increasingly popular peer-to-peer lending at outrageously low rates. This means that you can finance your marketing plans over a period of 6, 12, 24 months and retaining cash in the business just in case you need it.
It really is a great time to do this despite the challenges that we currently face. If you want to discuss your web project, get in touch for a no risk, commitment free discussion to explore what you need and whether we can assist.
Stay safe, stay home and stay positive.
Jovan
NB: The document on ‘Your Path to the Opportunities Ahead’ was produced and copyrighted by Garry Crosby of ActionCOACH Peterborough, who kindly allowed its publication on this blog – download here. For more information contact Garry at garrycrosby@actioncoach.com, or for more local South east enquiries contact Hamish Robertson at hamishrobertson@actioncoach.com
