10 Things I Know About...Surviving And Growing During A Recession
Curtis A. Feldman is a partner with Shepherd & Goldstein LLP in Framingham. He can be reached at curtisf@sgllp.com.
10. Cut Expenses
Look to cut discretionary spending, but be careful. If you cut too far, it may impact your ability to service your customers.
9. Continued Marketing
Sales follow your marketing, and effective marketing is more important during the bad times. Consistent marketing shows your customers that you want their business.
8. Cash Is King
Now is the time to tighten up your credit policies. Avoid selling to customers that have slowed or stopped paying, and aggressively find creative ways to bring the accounts current.
7. Customer Service
Develop or refine your “unique core differentiator” (UCD). Developing your UCD will help potential customers understand the added value that you offer.
6. Pricing Strategy
While there may be strategic reasons to offer discounts or special pricing, cutting prices to all customers will devastate your profit margins and possibly cause you to lose money.
5. Focus On Profits
If you are forced to scale back operations, be sure you are not missing opportunities to increase sales of your highest margin products or services.
4. Customer Mix
Ask yourself if you really need to spend valuable time and resources working with your least-profitable customers. It may make sense to streamline your customer base, even during tough economic times.
3. Incentivize Employees
Let your employees know where the company stands. Link more of an employee’s pay to your company’s strategic goals, such as commissions for sales based on sales targets.
2. Key Measures
Key performance indicators are both financial and non-financial measurements that track the progress of the critical things you must get right in your business. Look to your non-financial measurements so you know how things are going on a daily/regular basis.
1. Talk To Your Banker
Contrary to what you hear in the news, credit is still available to worthy businesses.
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