The world has slowly begun to recover from the effects of the unprecedented health crisis; the dust is settling. In the midst of it though, we’ve discovered one truth: People and their preferences have changed.
What used to be a necessity for your customers before COVID-19 might be no more than a luxury after it’s gone. This calls for a new approach by the individuals and organizations that will lead the future. It’s in periods of unprecedented change that unprecedented opportunities present themselves.
Here are 4 tips that will help you successfully navigate this season, so that your business does not just survive it, but it would also emerge stronger.
#1. Don’t Stop Selling
During periods of economic difficulty, one of the default decisions people make is to pause all economic activities, but this is a big mistake. As counterintuitive as it may seem, closing shop is not the solution when the economy takes a hit.
Take a cue from companies during the First World War, instead of folding their hands, they started offering products that people needed during the War:
- Guard dogs for the women whose husbands had gone to the War
- Cigarettes and coats for the soldiers in the trenches
- Pens for writing letters to loved ones
- Identity bracelets for identifying dead and missing people.
It would interest you to know that many of the manufacturers with the most eye-catching ads during those difficult times are still in business today: Nestle & Unilever are solid examples.
So, what should you do?
In times like this, it is okay to reduce your price, it’s even okay to offer some of your paid products for free (or at a loss). And if you’ve not started selling online, you are missing out on a great opportunity.
But in all you do… don’t stop selling.
#2. Stay Visible
Selling is the most important activity of your business. Visibility is the most important activity of your brand. It is possible to sell without being visible and it is possible to be visible without selling. You should be involved in both.
The saying, “Out of sight is out of mind” holds true in marketing. Even when you are not actively selling something, or while you are creating the next big thing, don’t go all quiet on your audience. Let them know you exist. Let them know you’re thinking of them.
If, for some reason, you have nothing to sell during this period, the least you can do is to keep yourself in from of your audience. This is not the time to shy away. Keep your brand top of mind
What Should You Do?
Create more content. Post updates on your social media channels. Send emails to your list. If you can, you should also host giveaways. The main thing is that you should speak more often to your audience.
#3. Pivot. Evolve.
There will always be unexpected times. It’s our duty as entrepreneurs to prepare for them.
If your business heavily relied on imported materials before COVID, now is the time to look ways to source them locally. If they are not available locally, you might need to look for a complimentary product that can serve your audience.
In some cases, the solution might be to offer your products to a new market or launch a totally different product. But sadly in a few instances, it’s best to stop everything and start all over again. It is better not to move at all than to run in the wrong direction.
Agreed, in January, you didn’t know that having a website (or at least having a Web presence) was essential to your operations. Now that you know better, what are you doing about it?
What Should You Do?
Carry out market research. Ask your current customers how COVID-19 has changed their buying preferences. Start building something to meet that need.
If you realize that starting all over is the best option for you, then I suggest looking into the “Big 3” markets…
Health: A man can spend his last to keep himself alive. Provide genuine solutions to people’s health & nutrition problems.
Wealth: Help people get things done cheaper, faster and better.
Relationships: COVID or not, in isolation centres or at home, people still fall in love. People want to make their current relationships better. Create products that can help people with these.
#4. Automate. Systemize.
Now is the time to save cost, now is the time to run lean. One of the ways to save yourself stress, time, effort and money is to build systems around your operations. A system is simply a predictable way of doing things.
When someone enquires about your business, do you always have to think of what to write, or do you have an already-written script that you simply customize to each person? Instead of manually sending a “Thank You For Subscribing” email every time you have a new subscriber, why don’t you create an autoresponder email that gets sent automatically?
You get the gist?
What Should You Do?
The next time you successfully accomplish a task, think of how to create a system around it. Don’t just think in terms of the next customer, think also of your 100th or 1000th customer. Look for ways to cater for more clients without necessarily increasing your workload.
Build systems and automate them.
Over To You
So, there you have the four things that will help you navigate this season successfully. Which of the four steps have you tried? Which one(s) are you going to implement? I would love to know. Please reply to this email and let me know your thoughts.
The 30-Day DigitalCEO Challenge
And by the way, the 30-Day DigitalCEO Challenge starts in a few days,
We’ll be wrapping up registration soon,
So, don’t delay,
Click this link to join the Challenge
And in 30 days, you will:
- Have a beautiful website that will leave your visitors impressed.
- Create Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Ads that will get you results, such that you will be able to predict how much you will be able to make when you spend XXX Naira on Ads.
- Create automation systems that will follow up your clients while you sleep and convert them to buyers.
- Have multiple products and offers for different groups of people in your audience.
- Understand your audience and discover what exactly they want (and not what you want them to buy).
- Start generating sales consistently, and build sustainability into your business.
These and more await you when you join the 21-Day DigitalCEO Challenge today.