Customer outreach is critical in times of uncertainty, but the question becomes what to say, how to say it and how often? In our article, Six Effective Game Changing Customer Outreach Strategies, we discuss a step-by-step process on appropriate customer contact that is sure to increase your probability of success. Moreover, implementing customer outreach is not only necessary but essential to the survival of your company. The challenge is that in stressful situations, most companies are doing it ALL wrong.

We’ve compiled a list of absolute disasters from a customer experience standpoint that research revealed. These examples of poor customer outreach and service during one of the scariest times in our history – if not THE scariest by far topped the list of the study and should absolutely be avoided at ALL COST:

DEAL KILLER #1: BANKING – A bank issues NSF fees to an overdraft that was missed by the customer confused during challenging times. In our survey, the customer explained they had missed the account activity reports because it was a low activity account they mistakenly used for a subscription. Once they realized the account was tied to the payment, they immediately terminated it – but for the customer it was too late, they accrued over $400 in NSF fees. The customer, distraught and at-risk of losing their job, called to see if there were any financial concessions the bank could make to help them find a resolution to the problem.

WRONG RESPONSE: Unfortunately, the bank was not empathetic to the customer at all and refused to help find a suitable resolution. The teller stated “Well mam, you have overdraft protection and you’ve accrued $400 in fees, we’ll try to do something, but I don’t think we can help out much since this was your mistake. We have online banking, we have drive-thru, you could have handled this before it got out of hand. This reaction and response is the WORST mistake you can make. Blaming the customer even if its their mistake ‘triggers’ the customers already sensitive emotions and the relationship will most likely be terminated.

SOLUTION RESPONSE: Even though this was the client’s clerical error, during times of crisis and severe confusion, the bank should empathize with the client’s situation. It’s not that the bank should waive all fees or bend the rules beyond fairness but more on HOW they should have responded. A better response the teller could have made was “I understand there is a ton of confusion and chaos right now AND it is my understanding that congress is trying to push legislation through to help citizens mitigate NSF fees during this time, in the meantime, our bank is proactively removing all fees that were accrued beyond xx date, at the time of quarantine. I assure you we will consider more after we review your account. Our goal is to make sure we help you get through this trying time with as little as heartache as possible. Let me call my bank manager and I’ll get an answer to resolve this right away.”

LESSON LEARNED: This isn’t about handouts or waivers, this is about empathy, understanding and being prepared to preempt customer challenges during uncertain times. Can’t you see in the example how this could have been handled differently? Where the clerk could have been the hero and saved the day. Further, holding to your guns isn’t worth losing the lifetime value of a client. Sometimes, even if there are company policies in place to protect the business respectably, 9 times out of 10 there is a better way to react and phrase a response that is more suitable for customer retention and satisfaction. Most importantly, a well-scripted and well-thought out response allows the rep to remain in rapport and client centric. This is not a time to lose business because of emotional, reactive responses.

DEAL KILLER #2: BRICK AND MORTAR – A retail business in the health and wellness industry (just prior to COVID-19), announces hitting a major milestone in number of clients. Naturally, they were excited and proud to have reached that accomplishment.  A client complained that the store policy to charge a fee for cancellations was a problem especially when cancellations were occurring due to ‘COVID’ concerns. No one anticipated the extent of the pandemic at that time, but the client felt cancelling was a prudent step under the circumstances. Worth noting, the customer was considered ‘VIP’ based on their account standing and activity. The customer invests a great deal monthly to this establishment and was committed but felt diminished and undervalued as the company cared more about number of NEW clients than quality of relationships of long-term customers.

WRONG RESPONSE: The representative explained ‘their policy’ was in place because they must serve a high number of clients and they WILL remain strict for that reason. When the customer explained their situation for the cancellation, the store responded, “Actually, because you cancelled twice, we could have charged you more, but we did you a favor and only charged you once.”  This response left the customer furious. She cancelled her membership the very next day.

SOLUTION RESPONSE: The rep could have taken a different approach. “I understand AND you are right to be concerned and cautious with your health during this time. You are a valued customer and as one of our VIPs, we are reasonably lenient with our cancellation policy up to three times per month – we call it our no-fault guarantee because we know things come up. I promise, we’ll make sure we communicate with you if you reach that limit but for now, just take care of yourself and thank you for your business.” Can you imagine how the customer would have responded to hear “you are right”?

LESSON LEARNED: Every client should be responded to with empathy, understanding and professionalism but when a client is truly ‘VIP’ and pays a premium as did this customer, they should be considered extremely valuable and costly to replace. In some cases, it is nearly 7 x more costly to replace a client than to keep the ones you have happy. Touting that you have xx number of clients and you are churning them in and out like a revolving door doesn’t sit well with customers who are vested and committed to your business long-term. Many customers see this as the company caring more about profits than relationships. The company’s strict policies and customer service training and reaction will cost the company thousands in revenue or more depending on how many customers back out of memberships based on this response which I assume is more than one for sure. While this is a great profitable, short-term strategy that meets stakeholder and investor demands, long-term it allows the companies competition to outperform just on building stronger relationships alone. During a time like COVID-19, you can bet that people will reevaluate their monthly costs and expenditures. Your business may not make the cut if customer experience was less than par or worse prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Expect to be put on the chopping block.

DEAL KILLER #3: GROCERY STORE – A grocery store was dealing with the height of the pandemic challenges, emotions and shortages. There were policies being put in place to help ration items for other customers and fulfill needs fairly across the board. Understandably, everyone was stretched thin and angry customers ravaged stores without properly understanding the nature of the situation. After reviewing a severe breakdown between a grocery store checker and customer, we thought it was a highly relevant and notable story to highlight during massive shutdown. The customer had more items than allotted in the basket but unaware of the policy and was ready to check out. The clerk let the customer know that he had too many items and would have to vastly cut back. The man who was purchasing products for an elderly man had a legitimate story, and felt the store could bend their rules so he could make his purchase.

WRONG RESPONSE: The store checker began to argue with the customer immediately.  She stated she was putting herself at risk just by being there while the customer explained the elderly man’s situation. She began raising her voice, moving her head to appear agitated and was visibly losing control of the situation. She also told the customer “the register won’t allow me to ring up more than three items total,” which was not accurate after it was all said and done. This caused the man to begin to get angry and not believe the clerk was being fully honest. The customer stated that he needed at least enough supplies to last for a week and pleaded for understanding. Although it was a somewhat complicated issue on both sides, it was a plausible story. Finally, a manager appeared and explained the policy once again, the customer explained his position once again. Ultimately, the store manager approved enough items for the week and let the man check out. Notably these items were not toilet paper, rubbing alcohol, or hand sanitizer, it was actually FOOD. Also noteworthy, these items weren’t eggs, milk or bread. They were a variety of frozen meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner to eat until fresh foods could be purchased – making the customers story likely and understandable.

SOLUTION RESPONSE: This was a very unique and complicated situation during such a difficult time while grocers were dealing with angry, confused, disgruntled customers and a shortage of supplies – both sides could have handled it differently, but once again, this is an opportunity to learn a better method to respond. The clerk could have defused the situation and deescalated but instead it turned into an arguing match in the middle of the store. She could have said “I understand that you are shopping for an elderly man. It’s really nice of you to care for him at a time like this. I’m sure you can understand the shortages we’re having and trying to serve the thousands of customers we have in fairness. Let me call my manager and see what she can do, I’m sure there is another way. I believe you and want to help you find a solution. I can’t imagine what the elderly are going through right now”. This response immediate defuses the disgruntled customer but also shows empathy and appreciation which in the end is hard for anyone to argue with.

LESSON LEARNED: The clerk lost trust and respect right out of the gate and even argued with the man. She began debating before any attempts to deescalate the situation were attempted. There was no rapport and no genuine concern or understanding. Most likely in her highly stressed state as well, she couldn’t see the possibilities or give the customer the benefit of the doubt.  Again, these scenarios dealing with an unprecedented situation are ‘not typical’ but they are great examples on what NOT to do and HOW to create a great customer experience even in difficult situations where you can NOT only create a bond with your customer, but also become their hero.

These three lessons go back to the initial discussion of how to handle customer outreach and communication during an extremely rare and extraordinary situation. To get better responses and not let ‘customer policies’ destroy the relationships you’ve worked so hard to build, you have to be able to put yourself in their shoes and word your responses with care and thoughtfulness.

None the less, they are lessons to be learned and with proper training, scripting and practice you can achieve the 6 Effective Strategies of Customer Outreach:

1. Be Empathetic
2. Be Proactive
3. Be a Good Listener
4. Be Engaging
5. Be Prepared
6. Be a Hero

Let’s face it, committing to anything right now is a risk because there is no end in sight and business owners aren’t sure of their own future.

Respectively, top concerns are when and where will we get funding, how will we maintain our employees and how will we recover from this massive shutdown –and most importantly, when will business resume?

Depending on the industry, any pending sales that were on the brink of closing prior to the quarantine has been put on hold or put OFF – indefinitely in some cases.

So, what SHOULD you be doing right now?

For centuries, there have been strategies used by business leaders that have weathered the storms of uncertainty and recessions, and even – depressions. We cover these ‘tried and true’ strategies in our new on-demand small business training series: RETHINK. REINVENT. REBUILD. How to survive and thrive the downturn modeling the historical patterns of great leaders. If you haven’t applied for this FREE, no risk training – please do so NOW.

APPLY NOW

In the meantime, rather than call customers and ASK for sales or ask when they’ll pay their bills or even when they will place their next order; instead, here’s a list of immediate customer outreach strategies you can apply in the next 48 hours so that you stay in rapport, stay relevant and let them know just how much you care about them.

What you shouldn’t do is adhere to a ‘that’s our policy’ attitude. Being inflexible or unwilling to adapt to the challenges your clients face is extremely risky. This will not only PROVE to be a failing strategy but a disastrous one at that. Here is what you should be doing or watch the brief video below:

1. Be Empathetic

Getting back to the basics of Rapport 101 means to empathize with the situation and ask your client if they are ok? Of course, make sure they are well and ask how are they feeling? Putting their health first should be your primary concern.  Tell them you understand their struggles and can only imagine what they are going through. Ask if they need anything? Being genuine puts you in a position of gratitude and understanding but more importantly in a position to solve problems and hear their concerns.

2. Be Proactive

Actively preempt foreseeable changes to their contract or order so you can help in making any necessary adjustments? Ask your customer to be honest and realistic with their situation. Ask, what do we need to consider now or in the future to prevent challenges? The goal here is to make a plan to address concerns with THEM to form a plan. Let them know your ultimate goal is to help them get through this.

3. Be a Good Listener

It goes without saying but always remember when your client speaks – listen with intent. Don’t share your problems and discuss what you are dealing right out of the gate – although they may care, customers don’t want to hear that right now. This is about them not YOU. Really listen and HEAR their concerns. If they just say they are ‘dealing with it’, proactively ask how they will be affected by this so you can help. Probing with concern will get them to talk and help you understand their needs on a deeper level.  If you do this, you can prepare for changes as well and it shows that you truly care about them.

4. Be Engaging

The biggest questions we are getting right now is what to say when contacting customers or how often should you contact them? Use this time as an opportunity to show reciprocity. Offer resources, information, payment plans, contract adjustments, solutions – whatever puts you in contact with the customer communicating their options in advance will serve you well. Not to mention, they need help or resources not sales pitches right now. While in most cases, 12 marketing touches is the norm, in times of crisis’ – the number jumps to 16x. You can text, email, send letters, thank you’s, etc… and we highly recommend facetime or video chat to stay connected when possible.  BUT, you must make sure to balance your outreach. Too MUCH contact can be overwhelming. Too LITTLE and you could be forgotten. Genuine outreach and consistency are the keys. Don’t bombard your customers while they are all dealing with their own chaos that’s been inflicted upon them. Slow and steady wins the race.

5. Be Prepared

Now is the time to anticipate changes in customer orders and contracts – expect that it WILL happen, it’s just a matter of when. Being prepared can mitigate the fall out even if you’re one of the lucky ones that are prospering from the crisis. The fact is, if you’ve done a good job of listening, you can create a contingency plan with your customer that benefits both sides. Being flexible and NOT adhering to stringent ‘company policies’ goes a long way. Changes and cancellations can be devastating but not as tragic than if you weren’t aware of them in advance. Partnering with your client on a work-around to address upcoming changes can put you back in the driver’s seat.

6. Be Your Customers Hero

Upon implementing the steps of this process, including creating solutions for your client proactively, reaching out to preempt their challenges and helping them achieve their goals will drive a great customer experience even during times of uncertainty. As a result, you’ll show your worth, your customer will appreciate your efforts and you’ll be remembered as your customer’s HERO. There is nothing more important than to genuinely care about your clients needs right now. Be congruent with your values and principles so that you will be known for exceptional customer care when business resumes.

The payoff for implementing these customer outreach strategies are HUGE and worth the investment. You simply cannot afford to make mistakes and lose business at a time when everyone is stressed, emotions are high, business and employee livelihoods are threatened. Your only option is to go the extra mile and be the hero – save the day and leave your customer a raving fan. When business resumes, you don’t want your head on a chopping block because prior to the recession you provided poor customer service.

If you’d like to read further on this topic, there is no worse time than to make these – 3 DEAL Killing Mistakes when Interacting with Customers during COVID-19

Apply for FREE Small Business Training at BusinessGrowthPlanning.com

On the other hand, we hear complaints from employees that leadership doesn’t have protocols in place for managing time and, as a culture, they are VERY reactive to changes in their business.

Simply put, managers aren’t instructing their staff to take a proactive approach nor do they have a well-thought out time management strategy. As leaders and managers, we shouldn’t complain that our staff isn’t performing or being productive if we aren’t going to put the energy into providing clear direction.

Another problem we hear when we teach time management is the ‘excuse’ that “Managing time will NOT work in THIS company – we are too reactive. Not everyone will follow protocols anyway. It would be impossible to implement, so what is the point…”  The fact is, these limiting beliefs are simply HOLDING YOU BACK!

If you allow excuses, your leadership is in question and you could be the reason your team isn’t performing.

The fact is, if you fail to use time as a strategy, you will lose a huge opportunity to make your company more competitive! One thing is for certain, you will not get TIME back once it’s gone so you had better use it wisely and have a plan.

We’ve implemented time management as a strategy in companies all over the world and it can work but business owners and leaders MUST be vigilant and determined for it to be successful!

So ask yourself these questions: What would happen if we could use time management as a strategic advantage? What if we applied RULES in the workplace to get more out of our people and resources; thus, improving productivity and performance? Would it be worth it? Wouldn’t you rather master time if you could implement simple yet powerful techniques that are proven to work? I hope you raised your hand and said “of course- just show me how”!

Here’s a  thought – if you were on a diet and went on vacation, and you knew that you wouldn’t be following your diet during that time – would you NOT go on a diet at all because there is no use being disciplined if you’re going to quit for a few days anyway? Of course not!

A smarter time management solution is what we call a ‘Time Diet”.  It’s probably one of the only things you can actively control at least more so than other factors like the economy or natural disasters. Rest assured, you CAN create a plan and you CAN stick to it.  You can even measure, alter or adjust the plan as needed during times of change. And, if you can’t practice time management strategies for a week or so during busy seasons, you simply get back on the plan after you return to business as usual – just like returning to your diet after vacation. It’s really that simple.

Keep in mind, you only need to make small improvements to get better results.

Think about this…. What if you could improve productivity 1% a week, that’s 52% a year. If you improve 10% a month that’s 120% a year. You can see that small improvements can still make a big difference over time. Imagine if you were in sports and you decided to practice 10 min drills, 6 days a week. That equals an hour a week, 4 hours a month and over 50 hours a year – give or take a few. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t set you apart and make you much more competitive. So, let’s explore how to create a successful plan for your business…

Five things you can do to start implementing time management strategies:

We teach what’s called the SmartTime System. It’s a customized plan that fits within your unique set of circumstances rather than a generic approach. Using the tips below, you’ll create your own custom time management system. Always keep in mind that time management can be altered during busy times. This allows you to get back on track easily when business resumes to normal.

1. Where does the time go, The first thing we do in planning a time management system is audit where you and your employees are spending their time right now. It’s not that hard. Start by chunking time into categories. I call these ‘Impact Areas’, such as: Administrative, Finance, Business Development, etc… If not, create them now. You may have areas that some employees don’t touch but that’s ok, make them a category anyway. You should have 5 to 7 major categories you can bucket or ‘chunk time’ into. We like to color code these areas to unify this strategy across the company as shown in the example. Take about 2 weeks and ask your team to submit a report.  The report should show hours with sums such as: 10 hours Administrative, 15 hours Business Development, 8 hours Finance, etc… I like to look at this report in a daily format rather than overall two week total because I can see if the team was even allocating time slots or if they were reacting to events without documenting. The report will tell you a lot about how your team spends their time. Knowing this information is very important to productivity because most are probably not pre-planning their day in specific ‘chunked time’ categories. This is huge to creating your time management plan and gives you a baseline to measure future results.
2. Establish TIME rules, Each organization should have rules and protocols it adheres to so they have boundaries with their time. Some required rules might look like, for example, “got a minute meetings, planned timeslots, agenda-driven meetings, chunked time slot for specific impact areas with no allowed distractions, IM turned off during specific timeslots, no phones in meetings, no off-topic discussions during meetings, allowable ‘do not disturb’ time slots, meetings must start and end on time, sales must spend 4 hours of day in business development, marketing must spend 4 hours a day in production, managers must spend 4 hours in revenue generating strategies, etc…” The list goes on and you can be as creative or specific as you want BUT you MUST establish time rules and boundaries for this system to work. AGAIN, its worth repeating that these rules can be ‘bent’ during uncertain or busy times.  They are guidelines meant to be followed AND bent if necessary. Most companies won’t even start this strategy because they fear they can’t maintain the rules – that’s just poor leadership!
3. Design your systems, After you know where you spend your time, designed impact categories, and set time rules for your business culture, you’ll need to put supporting systems in place. Systems can include anything that will automate, systematize or support the team to be more efficient. Systems might be a training platform (i.e. Learning Management System LMS), implementing an automated software (i.e. Mailchimp), a filing system, technology (i.e. Salesforce, CRM), etc… Even using Outlook at a higher level can help you systematize your daily business functions. There are many options but once you think of time management as a strategy and have created a plan, you will need new systems to support your strategy. Begin writing those down on your action plan now.
4. Develop processes to fit, Another time killer is not being able to delegate or pass off tedious work where it could be. We’ll often hear from staff … “I’m the only one that knows how to do that, I can’t pass that off, etc…” yet, THAT employee is a key person and shouldn’t be assigned to low impact activities. In your audit, you’ll want to identify those items or areas that are time wasters because there isn’t an efficient process in place to be able to automate or delegate. In some cases, there are NO systems, training protocols or processes in place so you’ll need to establish those as part of this plan. In other areas, you’ll find inefficient systems and processes so you’ll want to develop a plan to improve those so that you can increase performance in those areas too. Again, your audit should reveal where time is going, why and what systems or processes are preventing you from being productive and what you need to implement with intent to improve efficiency moving forward. These areas must addressed to maximize Time Management as a strategy.
5. Implement accountability, Time management won’t work if accountability measures aren’t in place or required. You’ll need to periodically audit, review and revise your strategy when necessary and across departments as well as individuals. Determine what is working, what’s not working and how can you tweak to improve. You’ll need to insist on measuring productivity so that you can see if its working.  There are systems for project management and performance that could help in measuring productivity. To start, you’ll have the time audit from step one in this process as your baseline. Remember you only need to make small improvements to make a big impact. Have employees turn in weekly reports if you don’t have an automated time reporting system to see if important impact areas are improving such as business development, finance and marketing. Finally, It’s advisable to put someone in charge that can champion this initiative and be accountable to getting results. Just having someone take ownership can ensure that time management stays at the forefront of your competitive strategy.

By implementing these five action steps, you’re well on your way to being more productive and competitive. We know it works because we use this time management audit and planning system in organizations in hundreds of companies. What works so well is that it creates a customized approach to your needs and establishes a ‘time conscious‘ culture.

So, now YOU have five ways to start planning a more effective time management plan – all you have to do is get started. You’ll not only know where your time is going but you’ll be able to assess areas of improvement and create a clear path to better performance using systems, rules, processes and accountability.

About SmartTime System by GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc.

After years of deploying organizational audits around the world, it was discovered that most businesses and their employees weren’t managing time strategically, if at all. It was also understood that of the many time management systems available on the market, none would fit our client’s cultural and performance needs exactly – there were too many variables and time disruptions to apply across the board. Thus, GrowthSmart decided to develop and launch its own SmartTime System that companies could easily design and adapt to their own specific needs while still following a system to improve performance. We use this process to customize time management strategies that is unique to each corporation. For more questions on implementing this program within your organization, if you struggle to apply time management strategies or are ready to learn how you can implement your own customized plan – contact us at info@growthsmart.com or simply apply for free resources here and an experienced coach will reach out to you to get you started.

About GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc.

Since 2007, GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc has specialized in Revenue Chain Management strategies, including: sales, marketing, training and operational performance to improve revenue, profitability and sustainability. Our goal is to drive long-term growth with systems and processes your team can use to maximize results, ultimately creating better performance across the revenue chain. In addition, To support small business growth, GrowthSmart has recently launched a series of small business retreats, training and resources including the ZONEMastery System and ZM Retreats®. APPLY for your FREE resources TODAY.

We call this G3® – Gain, Guard, Grow

Imagine using these simple strategies to get more clients, protect the clients you have and grow your current accounts so that you can be more successful! I like these strategies for small businesses because it simplifies immediate initiatives to increase revenue and I’ve seen it happen instantly once you begin focusing on it. They are:

• Gain: (Get more clients) – Write down ways you gain new business. Such as, more marketing, advertising, sales, knocking on doors, tradeshows, etc… What about reactivation or retargeting online visitors. Yes, you may have already thought about a ‘sales and marketing strategy’ but maybe you haven’t looked at ALL the ways you could get business. Do it now! We’ll talk about how to implement the strategy, but for now, just write the many ways you can acquire new business and prospects.
• Guard: (Customer retention) – Write down how you can maintain the customers you have. For instance, better customer experience or service. Maybe a loyalty program, special membership or VIP treatment. What about more tools, education or resources. Think about retaining the customer and lifetime value (LTV) of a client. It’s 10x harder to get new customers than to keep the ones you have. This is a critical piece we often lose sight of because we are caught up in prospecting and new business. We drop the ball on client delivery and service, thus losing valuable customers a long the way. The lifetime value of a client important to understand. If you haven’t done an official LTV analysis, it would be worth the exercise to do that now. Just showing appreciation, reciprocity and being attentive can easily affect long-term business. Something to think about!
• Grow: (Develop Accounts) – How can you get more business out of the clients and accounts you already have? Simply brainstorm ideas on how you can develop these accounts or grow them. For example, additional services or products? What about asking for more business – when I owned a printing company, one of our GROW strategies was to ask for more departments once we had the work of another department. Referral business within companies (other departments) is very viable depending on your product or business. You can also cross-promote or plant seeds for future product/ service offerings and even launch new services within the account. There are so many options to explore, even in turbulent times – write them down now.

The G3® – Gain, Guard, Grow strategy works great with small and new businesses that haven’t capitalized yet on growing, retaining or developing client accounts. Sometimes, you think you’ve done all you can do to increase sales but almost everytime we use this strategy in our workshops, pariticpants get excited about new ways they can grow revenue that perhaps they haven’t thought of until now. This is another reason why getting out of your comfort zone and taking a step back to plan for your business is so advantageous. Attending one of our workshops, retreats or live masterclasses can spur creativity and help you discover new opportunities.

Learn more about ZONEMastery Business Mastery Retreats

We’ve put together our best content for our one-and-two day events so that every business owner and their team can leave with a relevant, actionable plan. It’s not a business plan, it’s a one-year strategic roadmap that really works! We’ve proven it… Of all our years of teaching and coaching, this event by far has helped more business think through their ideas and find creative ways to put them into action than any other event we’ve taught. You’ll take a step back and walk away feeling it was the best time spent in a long time working ON your business. LEARN MORE , Attend our next event or BOOK our next FREE WEBINAR.

About GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc.

Since 2007, GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc has specialized in Revenue Chain Management strategies, including: sales, marketing, training and operational performance to improve revenue, profitability and sustainability. Our goal is to drive long-term growth with systems and processes your team can use to maximize results, ultimately creating better performance across the revenue chain. In addition, To support small business growth, GrowthSmart has recently launched a series of small business retreats, training and resources including the ZONEMastery System and ZM Retreats®. Don’t forget to APPLY for your FREE resources TODAY.

I’ve personally been through several major crashes in my 30+ years as a business owner. The first was early 2000’s and 911. The second was the 2008 financial crisis – “The Great Recession”. Both were unexpected, shocking and just after a boom in the market. Although I struggled like many companies, I did find ways to reinvent my offerings, services and even products – not to mention all the decisions I wish I would have done had I known. In response to this crisis, we did some research and I’m going to share what other CEOs have done in past recessions and depressions to create opportunity and adapt to a new economies that I think you’ll find enlightening.

Read this brief list of TEN ways to RETHINK, REINVENT and REBUILD your business during a recession or downturn: (Read MORE HERE in our in-depth LinkedIn article)

1. RETHINK BUSINESS MODEL – innovation should always be a focus for small businesses. Many companies adapt and evolve naturally and in down economies, innovation and new ideas can even spike. New brands and models are born from ingenuity and necessity during recessions. It is important to plan to adapt to new customer segments and needs even when your business is thriving.
2. RETHINK FINANCES – in economic fallouts, it is important to focus on efficiency throughout your company. Examine your finances, your spending and your cash flow. Make sure you look at opportunities to cut, expand or get funding to support the change your business is going through. And don’t forget to make sure to tap into resources that spur from economic crashes offered by organizations, non-profits and the government.
3. RETHINK STAFFING – staffing can be reallocated, trained or streamlined. You can take advantage of part-time, remote and other cross-train opportunities. Restructure key staff so that you maintain high performance workers.
4. RETHINK TRAINING – many companies haven’t adopted or adapted to online training and systematic employee performance systems. These platforms are extremely affordable but take time to implement. Look for fast, efficient systems already developed to get started.  READ MORE.
5. RETHINK SYSTEMS AND PROCESS – there is never a better time to systematize and process than at a time when you have more time and people that can support the development. In a crash or downtime, like we are experiencing now, you can easily get your part-time staff or key workers to design these initiatives to be rolled out when business returns as usual.
6. RETHINK PRODUCTS AND SERVICES – why not think of new offerings, better products, more robust services. You may not have had time to rethink this before, now you do. How can you make what you do better and more effective?
7. RETHINK BRAND – your branding and image should evolve. You may have been too busy to focus on it in the past, but now you can take a step back and ask yourself if your brand represents your vision. If not, now may be a good time to change.
8. RETHINK MARKETING, SALES AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE – these initiatives are very laborious to implement and execute. They also require a lot of time and thought to design or recreate. During downturns, examining your strategies is a good time to make sure your approach is comprehensive. Do each align together?
9. RETHINK PLANNING – if you don’t take time to think about your  business and retreat, you are missing a huge opportunity. We can’t see the forest for the trees when we are in our business. We are too close to see the opportunities before us.
10. RETHINK MINDSET – no doubt during times that are tough, our mindset can create more havoc than we can handle. Having an opportunistic mindset when there seems to be no way is a common characteristic to those CEOs who come out of recessions on top.

Read MORE here

About GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc.

Since 2007, GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc has specialized in Revenue Chain Management strategies, including: sales, marketing, training and operational performance to improve revenue, profitability and sustainability. Our goal is to drive long-term growth with systems and processes your team can use to maximize results, ultimately creating better performance across the revenue chain. In addition, To support small business growth, GrowthSmart has recently launched a series of small business retreats, training and resources including the ZONEMastery System and ZM Retreats®. APPLY for your FREE resources TODAY.

Over the years, we have been able to apply enterprise business growth principles to smaller companies so they can experience the same type of growth, profitability and sustainability that larger organizations have mastered.

For simplicity and adoption, we’ve boiled it down to specific impact areas. The process is to analyze the entire revenue chain, diagnose the deficiencies then design a Revenue Chain Management model that delivers the best value to the customer at a level of predictability and certainty to maximize the companies resources. We call it-

The ZONEMastery System® (ZM) – a complete systematic process designed to help Small Businesses achieve faster and smarter growth, profitability and sustainability.

There are Six Key Drivers in the ZM system to achieve optimal revenue results. The system works with B2B, B2C, B2G and Non-profits. And, it’s been tested in multiple industries and sub-industries around the world because it is based on business principles.

It may surprise you that successfully increasing revenue isn’t always about marketing or selling more products and services. In fact, the companies we investigate that are FAILING to succeed and reach their goals has one or all of these six problems. They are: a People, Systems, Processes or Strategy, Accountability or Implementation.

The root of these problems boil down to lack of leadership, vision, focus, human potential or efficiency. It’s that simple. Our system addresses each of these in a simple, easy to understand format so that small business can fill their gaps and begin to see success.

These six components are designed to create target rich environments in six areas of ZONEMastery®, including:

• ZONE 1: Personal Performance – is where we assess personal strengths. opportunities and characteristics while learning how to create an optimal and peak state of performance.
• ZONE 2: Strategic Performance – discovers and examines performance across the revenue chain to include positioning, messaging, target audience KPI’s, vision and other strategic key impact areas; looking for effectiveness and capability alignment.
• ZONE 3: Brand Performance – reveals areas of improvement in innovation, brand promises, core messages and delivery to make competition irrelevant.
• ZONE 4: Sales & Marketing Performance – includes a thorough analysis of market segments, ideal buyers, product and service delivery, customer experience and funnel management including leadership and strategy in these departments.
• ZONE 5: Leadership Performance – examine leadership capabilities and opportunities across departments and functions, culture, accountability, training and cross-functionality; uncovers succession planning requirements for long-term growth and sustainability.
• ZONE 6: Mastering the ZONES – a look into the organization broadly across the revenue chain to improve efficiency and effectiveness in training, technology, leadership, revenue management, employee and company performance – with the goal being mastery in all areas.

ZONEMastery® was designed to use systematic business principles in a small business setting that can easily be followed for more predictable results rather than haphazardly deploy business initiatives with little to no understanding what works or not. We call this ‘trial and error’ and its killing small businesses everywhere. GrowthSmart has implemented these principles around the globe in every kind of industry and every size business imaginable. What we’ve learned is that after adapting these strategies to different business cultures and environments, they WORK tried and true with a few minor adjustments depending on the company. Learn from the experts – stop making mistakes that are costing you profitability, sustainability or growth!

Learn more about ZONEMastery Business Mastery Retreats

Understandably, most leaders struggle to take their business to the next level. Our process helps you simplify your sales, marketing, messaging and operations strategy for smarter, faster growth in a one or two-day retreat format for small business owners and their teams. In this event, attendees will learn The Six Key Zones of Performance, how to analyze their current state and how to apply these strategies to create a real actionable, annual strategic roadmap.

These events are facilitated by Trisha Allmon, a 30-year business strategist and coach, offering three decades of advice, leadership and experience to participants. LEARN MORE or attend our next event or book our next FREE WEBINAR. Watch our Retreat promo below:

About GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc.

Since 2007, GrowthSmart Consulting, Inc has specialized in Revenue Chain Management strategies, including: sales, marketing, training and operational performance to improve revenue, profitability and sustainability. Our goal is to drive long-term growth with systems and processes your team can use to maximize results, ultimately creating better performance across the revenue chain. In addition, To support small business growth, GrowthSmart has recently launched a series of small business retreats, training and resources including the ZONEMastery System and ZM Retreats®. APPLY for your FREE resources TODAY.