Things Could Turn Ugly – So how will you respond?

All the signs are there for an economic downturn over the next few months which, coming so soon after the recent upheavals, will mean that things could turn ugly, commercially speaking. In previous Blog Posts we have spoken about holding your nerve and having faith in your marketing (available HERE)and in our opinion, this will be one of the biggest challenges for businesses right now.

When things are tough, you will see a number of larger companies rush to the bottom of the market to protect sales volumes, even given the damaging effect this has on margins, their theory being that, as long as the depressed period is short, they can withstand the reductions and still be able to keep marketing levels relatively high.

It has been shown in many studies that continuing to invest in marketing, especially when this is targeted at building brand loyalty, has a significant effect on the size of the post-recession bounce back.

Small businesses need to work on identifying what it is that their loyal customers love about working with them and make this the key message in their marketing plans. It is only with this distinctiveness that you can build a positive edge over your peers, but also the bigger players in your market. If you fully understand your customers’ wants and needs, then respond to these quickly and accurately, you can build a valuable ‘bank’ of loyal customers.

Inevitably there is going to be some restriction on the spending purse of all of our customers, but instead of looking straight at your pricing, instead look to offering something else, such as saving people time, or effort, or perhaps a package of complimentary products bought together.

The key message that we can see, is that Small Businesses need to lead the way in how you deal with your customers – be open and honest, give great service and you will reap the rewards when the recovery is underway.

Creatively Yours…

Creatively Yours Ltd helps businesses like yours succeed online through website design, website development, and our Helponomics system that offers support and training as you need it and highlights areas that could increase your sales.

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Then why not drop us a line to helping@creatively-yours.co.uk, or simply call us on 01536 23 98 98 or 01493 718 300