Turning Around A Struggling Biz
1. Keep Selling. Purchasing agents are reporting sharp drops in weekly sales calls across many industries, Rauseo says. That means less competition for your products or services. “It’s easier to get a commission-only sales force going today” with so many individuals looking for jobs, he says. “Give your salespeople the tools they need and have them redouble their efforts.”
2. Evaluate Marketing Effectiveness. Don’t cut your advertising and marketing budgets, but put tight controls in place that allow you to gauge the response and adjust your expenditures on a weekly basis, Rauseo recommends. If something’s not working, make changes sooner rather than later.
3. Anticipate Opportunities. In whatever form it takes, there will likely be a large influx of government money this year as part of President Obama’s economic stimulus plan. “With that much money flooding into the economy, of course there’s going to be an effect,” Rauseo says. “Prepare a strategy for tapping into it and you can take advantage of it.”
4. Create a Rapid Response Team. Set up a recession-busting committee that can anticipate the effects of the downturn and react quickly. “If there’s an item on your menu that no one’s buying, get rid of it. If you’ve got trucks returning from runs empty, schedule a third stop where they can pick up goods and eliminate empty miles,” Rauseo says.
5. Get Creative. Brainstorm innovative solutions to your business problems. “We had a client making hinges for the auto industry and they were going down the tubes. Now they’re making hinges for caskets and they’re recovering,” Rauseo says. “Stop panicking and get on with business.”
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