You are wealthy with knowledge.
You have proven yourself to overcome challenges that most can not.
What you know and what you can do will ALWAYS be useful to lots and lots of people.
This is the simple truth that allows you to opt-out of the limiting beliefs of a recession.
And because you haven’t settled for the lie that you should expect less in the coming year, you can leverage four principles, along with the three I shared last week, to come out ahead, downturn or not.
4. Re-Package Your Offer – Pricing and value aren’t near as much about math as they are about perception. When you suddenly find yourself being compared on price by doomsday penny-pinchers, group your services together in a way that none of your competitors are. Very often just making something “different” is all that you need to escape the public belief that it’s too expensive. See examples here.
5. Earn Tomorrow Customers at a Discount – As soon as the trades whisper a soft year, the large majority of your competitors will tuck their tail, cut their advertising budgets, and wait to see what happens. This is when you go in for the kill and steal as much market share as possible.
Did you know, when there are less people buying ads, you can get a steal of a deal on TV, Radio, and even Facebook? The goal is to be a confident brand in the lives of your audience EVERY DAY. Write ads that make people feel good, like there is nothing wrong, and that there’s never been a better time to buy. You will not only earn customers now, but in a year or so you will have been so dominant that the market believes you are the #1 (and you will be), because they haven’t heard of anyone else for a long time. While everyone else is crying in their drinks, get out there and sing the good news from the mountain tops!
(PS – Chapter 12, 13, and 14 in The Maven Marketer will teach you how to master the art of Tomorrow Marketing and become famous in your town!)
6. Make an Irresistible Offer to Your Yesterday Customers – I’m always amazed at how many companies forget about the thousands of past customers they have. These are people that already know, like, and trust you, and often all that it takes is a simple phone call, appreciation event, or email campaign to bring them back to you! There are endless possibilities. Here are some examples to get you started.
(Chapter 16 of the book will also teach you how to master the yesterday customer strategy!)
7. Build an Alliance with Complementary Companies – There’s often someone who isn’t a competitor, but a great harmonizer to what you do. There’s never been a better time to take those CEO’s to lunch, talk about the changes in the market, and build a solid referral bridge for each other. These relationships will serve you when customers are tight, but they’ll also create strong bonds for the good times in the future. See examples here.
Ok – so by now you have 7 safety-net ideas to get you started when you’re feeling a slump.
But honestly, those ideas were just a small sampling from the last couple of weeks of consulting. They weren’t hard to think of, and they fell out of my head with ease.
You know why?
Because I allowed myself to look for opportunity, not limitation.
It isn’t always an easy choice, but it is a choice nonetheless. I wrote all of this to remind you that you can always do the same.
Don’t ever let the little chickens tell you that the sky is falling.
A recession, like the pandemic and other storms we’ve faced, is only a circumstance. You may not be able to control it, but you CAN choose how you react.
Most importantly, you live in a country where opportunity is merely a matter of your imagination, courage, and focus.
Don’t forget that.
We’re always here if you get stuck.
Cheers,
BW
