Still hanging on to your “good times” bad habits?
Old habits die hard, especially for those in service businesses. Those whose phones seemed to ring non-stop during the boom times, may not be ringing as much these days. As budgets tighten, making do with less service becomes the rule in many businesses.
Can your good reputation survive personnel cuts?
Referrals from satisfied customers or clients are the gold standard of advertising. But what happens when the manager who always called and sang your praises is downsized? Businesses making fewer calls for service also means less contact between you and company employees who survived the cuts. You could become a case of “out of sight, out of mind.”
Ivy Cohen, at Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications, sums it up nicely:
“Consumers make purchasing decisions based on choices. The brand that they feel is most accessible and relevant when they are ready to buy is going to win their hard earned dollars. So, the less visible and accessible your brand, the more excuses you provide for the competition to win.”
Cohen speaks of “brand” but that covers all service businesses, whether a hotel, plumber, or graphic designer. Brand is everything known and perceived about you, your product/service, and your company. In the marketplace, that is you.
The key is to make yourself easily accessible on your customer’s or client’s terms. That doesn’t mean to pester them. On the contrary, it means providing whatever help you can — materials, counseling, contact information, etc. — in order to aid their decision-making process when they’re ready to buy.
Best of all, recessions give you incentive and opportunity to step up your efforts to come up with creative solutions that will help your customers win. Focus on their needs. You can’t help them without knowing what challenges they face. Stay in contact with them. Listen to them.
What’s the “so great” part of a down economy? Winning is the result of a comparison among those trying to reach the same goal. It’s easier to pass the competition when they’re heading the wrong direction.
[...] Click to read What’s so great about a down economy? Part 2 [...]