Are you ready for the economic upturn? 6 ways to make sure

dmcleish — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:18:55 +0000

All of us have seen the effects of the current economic climate, maybe even firsthand. The media has beaten the topic to death over the past couple years and they are not seeming to let up. Some experts are predicting that we will start to see a positive shift by the middle of 2010 and even as early as the end of 2009. Not surprising, it is only fitting to the cycle. What cycle you may ask? Well, in case you haven’t heard, this is not the first time the world has faced such economic peril. Companies are closing left and right, and jobs are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Your thought process may be somewhere along the lines of ”if we can survive until the economy starts its upward trend, we will be fine”. While this may be true, I believe there is a catch. Companies will continue to close their doors even after the economic climate has picked up. This is because they will not have been doing what is required in rough times to be ready to ride the wave. We predict that people will start to do more business with companies they trust. With that said, building that trust when things are down is crucial to making sure consumers remember your name. Here are six ways to make sure you are in the green.

#1 Sell your expertise more than your products
This one is crucial. Demonstrating that you actually know what you are talking about will boost your credibility amongst consumers of your products or services.

#2 Person to person marketing is key
The internet is now ruled by your everyday techno-savvy users. They are privy to a multitude of information. Mass forms of advertising and marketing have evolved their filters. Reaching out to them on a one-on-one basis will move them closer in a personal relationship with your brand than that really expensive advertising atomic bomb. You may be thinking that this would take a lot of time, and you would be correct. I am not saying that this should be your only tactic, but try doing something personal for your potential customers and see for yourself. It just works!

#3 Direct customer service
This one goes along the lines of number 2, but expands it into actually gathering feedback from your clients using the mass number of venues in which they gather online. Always keeping a pulse on your brand and reaching out to your consumers when they give both positive and negative feedback will demonstrate that you care about the experience you provide to them.

#4 Maximize your footprint
Participate, then participate a little more. Enough said!

#5 Get all your employees involved
Some companies cringe at this one, but getting your employees involved in your online endeavors not only increases your resources and reach to consumers online, but it will also help to portray the culture of your company. In many cases this is a good thing. However, if you are a company that is not exactly sure what kind of culture you are (we’ve seen it) then you may want to gain insight into that first (we can help here).

#6 Keep up with the trends
Last but by no means least, make sure you keep up with the trends online. Knowing what users are into will give you an advantage in reaching them.

The main gist here is get personal. Developing a personal relationship with the current and potential consumers of your products or services will give you a selling advantage over your competition.

Tell us what you think by commenting on this post. You may also view the corner6labs website at www.cornersix.com. Until next time.

corner6Labs Blog » economy

Are you ready for the economic upturn? 6 ways to make sure