Looking to recession-proof your business? We can help with that…
The past few years have been tough, for everybody. COVID-19, international lockdowns and constantly changing restrictions caused disruption to almost everything. Despite being out of the worst of it, for now, this unprecedented time in our history has meant that everyone from business owners to average consumers are still recovering and dealing with the financial backlash of it all.
With some of the toughest financial times upon us, everyone’s looking to see how they can save whatever money they can. Consumers are looking for the best deals and business owners are looking at how to best structure their businesses for a coming recession.
Now, to say that we have the answers on how your business can survive these recession-imminent times would be a lie. But, what we can do is give you an insight into a few techniques for giving it the best possible chance. Areas in which to focus your business’ attention and priorities to tackle the strain.
So, without further ado, here are 3 tips for battling the recession…
Customer Care First
A great start to recession-proofing your business is by looking after the customer base you already have. As much as finding new business is always a drive, you also want to be prioritizing your customer care – Making sure that your creating and maintaining strong relationships with your customer base. The regular revenue stream that your existing customers bring will act like an invaluable lifeline during uncertain times.
The best way to handle this is through consistent (not aggressive) communications with your customers. Staying in touch with them and making sure that they are totally happy and satisfied will, over time, create a strong bond. Keep your channels of communication open and available. Remain as hospitable as you can at all times. During insecure times, customers also want to make sure that the companies they are giving their money to are taking care of them the best they can. Brand loyalty in this way could be a lifesaver.
It’s important to consider the fact that EVERYONE is going through the same recession. In the same way that you and your business will be looking to reduce costs and maintain a healthy revenue stream, your customers will also be making sure that every one of their pennies counts. If they’re not 100% happy and think their money can be better spent elsewhere, the tight financial landscape will make them quicker to leave.
Prioritise Strong Marketing
In times of financial difficulty, businesses naturally start looking to their operations for areas that can afford to be cut down. Unfortunately, most of the time, marketing departments are the first to feel these cuts. Business owners will often be thinking about which departments are directly bringing in revenue and prioritise those, deeming everything else as a bonus. However, as the saying goes, sometimes the best offence is a good defence – and reinforcing your brand image is an amazing defence.
Think about it, during times of extreme uncertainty and ups and downs, wouldn’t you want your brand to seem as strong as possible? Pulling back and reducing your marketing may give your audience the impression that you are worried about your business’ strength. This doesn’t mean forking out on massive marketing strategies and expensive ad campaigns, but instead just maintaining your brand image. Keep reinforcing the same message and values as you always have. This will show the public that your brand is robust and capable.
Brand Reinforcement is an important thing to consider here. As we mentioned previously, everyone is going through the same recession and so consumers will be looking to spend their hard-earned money on brands they believe in. Your marketing will help this. Showing them that your business is in a good place, through the use of strong marketing, will go far into creating trust with an audience of modern consumers, who really don’t want to be spending their money. They will be doing even more research into their choices before spending their money these days and so strong marketing might actually make all the difference.
Automate, Automate, Automate
As we mentioned before, in times of financial crisis, business owners will be looking at their operations for a way to streamline. Lucky for us, we’re living in a time of technological innovation and automation. It’s here that companies will find answers. Within any business, there will be a lot of repetitive background work that’s necessary to keep it running. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean a person needs to be doing that work. There are so many areas within a business that could be automated to maximize efficiency:
Payroll Process: Incorporate payroll software that takes the manual labour out of payroll runs, calculations, and tax filings. There are entire software suites available to take much of the heavy lifting away from your financing teams.
Managing Human Resources: Implement a self-service HR platform that automates paid time-off requests, qualified plan changes, benefits administration, and other formerly time-consuming people management processes.
Bookkeeping & Financial Reporting: Reduce your reliance on in-house or external bookkeepers and accountants with an enterprise-grade accounting platform that helps you track revenue, expenses, and liabilities at scale (and makes tax time less of a headache).
Marketing Automation: There are countless applications that can be found online to save time and effort for your marketing team. Copywriting AI, pre-made templates for almost anything, and social media are just a few that are waiting to be utilised.
All of these time-saving applications are built to save countless man-hours for your workforce, although some are more cost-effective than others. Do your research into what each competitor can provide you, relative to your business needs. The good thing about making an investment in automation now is that post-recession, your operations will still benefit from the streamlined operations.
Conclusion
A recession and financial business uncertainty may be ahead – but that doesn’t have to mean inevitable loss. As you can see, there are things that you can position, ahead of time, to maintain a sturdy operation. Putting your customers first, sustaining a strong brand image, and maximising efficiency where you can is a strong start to keeping up with the upcoming financial landscape.
Here at Yo Telecom, we’re all about increasing businesses’ success. We do this by providing market-leading telephone and broadband systems that are all designed to maximise efficiency and increase customer satisfaction.
If you want to find out more about what we can do for you and your business, get in touch TODAY!
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