Recession Proof Your 2008 with 7 Sure-fire Ways to Boost Productivity
January 11, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
This is a guest post from Dr. Susan L. Reid. Susan will be answering questions on Slacker Manager today, so please leave her a comment and she’ll answer any questions you might have. Have fun!
There’s something in the air. Can’t you just feel it? It’s the anticipation of 2008 being the greatest year ever.
For some people . . . .
For other’s, the cloud of impending gloom has already begun to cast its shadow. Earlier this week it was reported that the U.S. economy is primed to slump into a three-quarter recession.
However, not everyone will experience a corresponding drop in productivity and growth. What if there was a way to increase productivity? And not just by a little. How about by a 20 percent increase?
Seven Sure-fire Ways to Boost Productivity
1. Be known for delivering great products and services. Now, more than ever, this oft repeated maxim is true. Your products and services are a reflection of you, are the front-line calling card for your business, and the number one way to make your customers trip all over themselves referring others to you.
2. Stand out by offering an astonishing guarantee, one so amazing that others in your industry would balk at offering. Delivering on your astonishing guarantee distinguishes you and gets your business noticed.
3. Add value, not price. Continuously adding value to your products and services makes you look rich and attractive to your customers and prospects. Adding price without value makes you look cheap.
4. Cultivate business with customers who have similar beliefs and interests. This eliminates having to work with jerks.
5. Connect to give, not connect to get. Cultivate mutually beneficial win-win relationships with emphasis on the “give” part. Ask not what your customer can do for you, rather what you can do for your customer. Then deliver.
6. Command time and space this year and create what you see for yourself, not what someone else sees for you.
7. Forget about last year. Whether you did well or not, forget about it. Create a new voice. In the words of T. S. Eliot, “Last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.”
Do yourself a favor. Take steps to recession-proof your business and make 2008 your best productivity year ever. What steps have you already put into place to recession-proof your new year? If you were to add just one more step to the above list, what would it be?
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About the guest author: Dr. Susan L. Reid is a business coach and consultant for entrepreneurial women starting up businesses. She is the author of “Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success.” Her website is Alkamae.com, and you can read more about her virtual book tour at Windsor Media Books.
Thanks Susan…I love T. S. Eliot, “Last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.” I look forward to new voices in 2008
Connect to give, not to get is proving itself to me to be the most powerful way of doing business. Resistance arises instantly when I find myself trying to get something. But when I give freely, the connection is authentic and everyone involved benefits. This year, I’m giving away free samples of my art just to make people feel good!
I love #4: “Cultivate business with customers who have similar beliefs and interests.” In the past, I was always afraid to turn down any prospective client, even if I had a feeling the person or company would bring difficulty into my life. Since learning to listen to my inner wisdom, I’ve had the courage to turn down clients that didn’t “feel right. In every case, I’ve gotten another, more appropriate, client or job to fill the gap very quickly!
Mark Victor Hansen talks about adding the WOW factor to your business. This is what your first three steps do – makes people feel special. I have been thinking about how to increase that WOW factor and many of the things are very simple to do but have big results. I believe that we get what we expect so I would add “expect your business to grow (be specific) this year”.
Indeed, David. That T.S. Eliot quote is a great quotation to keep in mind for the New Year. It’s so easy to get stuck in the story of the past, rather then venture out and create a new voice in the now.
You’re right, Dana, connecting to give is one of the most powerful ways of creating relationships and, as a direct by-product, increasing productivity and success in our businesses.
It takes courage to turn down a prospective client, customer, or job on the basis of it not being a good fit. Though, oh, so rewarding! As you said, Mary Ellen, when one door closes, hundreds more open . . . all better suited, more aligned, and much more rewarding.
Marlene, you’ve given us a wonderful addition to our recession-proofing list — setting the expectation of our business growing. Good one!
IMO, adding value without adding to price, especially in services space, is not realistic. Yes add value. Yes add to price too. People are ready to pay for value based proposition. Adding value only is sure fire way to burnout – at least in services space. I am with services space, I live and breathe it each and every day. In services you are either Time and Materials or Value Prop based. You can offer more value based on expertise. Expertise requires huge investment that needs to be covered while leaving revenue that must grow. Otherwise why bother?
You know, Alik, it sounds to me like adding value without adding price might not be doable for you and your services space. Especially if it means lots of external training requiring a huge investment in both money and away hours.
The nice thing about the list of seven is that there are seven and one has choice. Take what fits and discard the rest, is what I tell my clients.
As a coach, one of the most common challenges many of us identify with is the need to “market” ourselves. I know the necessity of it and yet, there’s this resistance. I know, I know… “get over it!”, right? Logically I know that if folks don’t know about what services or products you have to offer, then how will they know its availability? And if I don’t have a true passion or connection to it, how could I possibly stand from a place of authenticity?
So this year, it’s about reframing alot of the past judgments I’ve had about “marketing”. Rather, for me, it is about connecting to that passion about what and why I do what I do. Then, whether you’re a realtor, artist, webdesigner, coach, etc… it comes down to a numbers challenge. How many people do I need to reach before I find those folks needing or wanting my service?
It takes a specific plan, strategy and accountability to say I will educate “x” number of folks about our service. So what it comes down to is just plain ol’ hard work, discipline, focus, and committment. Same thing I’d be telling my own clients!
So I’ll start right now… I am very passionate about my coaching practice. Please take a look at our website and learn more about Family on the Edge… Turning heartbreak into new beginnings.
Mary Ellen’s words spoke to me, as I’ve spent way too years cultivating business from a place of lack. It wasn’t until I connected (so fortuitously!) with Susan that I began to see that you can not only promote yourself honestly and with integrity, but also learn to turn down those jobs to which your Inner Samurai is pulsing “no”. Now I feel free to take those jobs that speak to me…and not take those to which my Inner Samurai pulses “no”. Susan’s book and guidance are invaluable. Thanks, LS!
Carolyn and Carol, I think the quotation from Maya Angelou sums up what you all are saying beautifully, “If there’s something you don’t like, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments.
Growing Your Business in These Tough Economic Times!
Let’s face it most businesses are trying to recover from a not-so-profitable Christmas season. The sale of big ticket items are at an all time low. Experts are saying we are “headed into a recession” I say we’d be better off believing that we are already in one and act accordingly. So what do you do? Most run scare and cut back on all expenditures and ride it out. That may seem to make good sense at first but let’s think it through. Doing nothing is not going to grow your business that I guarantee. We need to study our perspective market. YOU got into business to make a living. Now is the time to think smarter and work harder. You must weight your benefits and your detriments; can you expand your market? Perhaps you can add a direct marketing department to your company, or providing an extra service that can work seamlessly with your business without the need for an additional investment. Now is the time to be creative. Social networking is the flavor of the month and it works. MerchantCircle seems to have the right idea; more businesses helping each other. I applaud this Blog for doing the same thing. To add to my value as a advertising consultant I’m orchestrating a co-op distributing groups of coupons door to door for local businesses. This is done at a fraction of what it would cost them to do it alone. All of you keep up the great work. And lastly, my favorite point that Susan made was “Connect to give, not connect to get” that is my matra for 2008. Thank you, Ron
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1. Invest in education: Continue to educate yourself, attend seminars, free online webinars, read books and trade magazines, keep up to date on what is happening in your industry and learn all you can.
2. Network and make contacts online and offline: Networking will keep you in everyone’s minds, also if you end up losing your job you will have a slew of business cards of others in the business that you can contact to work with during hard times.
3. Follow the market: Read the papers or watch the news, know what is happening and stay on top of it.
4. Pay off debt: If you can pay off any debt, now is the time to do it. Dealing with a recession is hard enough, but if you have a boatload of debt on top of that your stress level will go through the roof and you might not be able to pay it a few months down the line. Pay cash for anything you need, if you don’t have the cash, ask yourself if you really NEED it, or do you just WANT it? Put your credit cards in the freezer or cancel them and cut them up.
5. Cut back on extras: Seems simple, but do you need all the bells and whistles you have on your business or home phone or even your cell phone? Do you need to get Starbucks twice a day? Can you bring your lunch? Can you carpool to work?
6. Build your online presence: With a website, blog, newsletter or articles. Join online networking groups that relate to what you do, mentor someone or find a mentor, visit Craig’s list or other online portals.
7. Have your clients sign a long term contract or review their existing contacts and renew them or extend them.
8. Specialize in something: Make yourself valuable, employers are more likely to keep an employee who can do more than one thing.
9. Turn your hobby into a part time business: for example selling items on ebay.
10. If you don’t have to sell your home or any property, don’t. You won’t get top dollar and will end up losing money. If you can, work on the home or property that you want to sell so when the recession ends you can get more money for it, for example, paint the house, do some landscaping, whatever you can afford or do yourself to improve the quality of the property.
11. Update your resume now, just in case.
12. Learn more about jobs that are recession proof, industries such as food, energy, vices (tobacco), entertainment, medical services, debt collection, security or alarm services. Are any of these things something you could implement into your job or use as a part time job avenue?
13. Don’t cut prices, but reward your customers: During a recession business owners may think that cutting prices will help them and their customers. Don’t do it. Keep your prices as they are but offer your customers a coupon or a rewards program, to reward them for sticking with you during tough times.
14. Build value: Offer a buy one get one deal or buy one get something at 50% off. This increases your sales, where someone might have only purchased one item, with a deal like that it seems almost foolish to them not to take advantage of the deal and therefore purchase more from you
15. Get in contact with past customers who have not purchased from you in a while, this can activate a dormant account and possibly create more sales for you.
16. Follow up on any new leads and all old leads: Call them and see if they have a need for anything you offer.
17. Offer Outstanding customer service: To keep your customers you want to give them more than what they pay for. Keep your customers happy and they will stay with you.
18. Aggressively work on your marketing plan: send out press releases, keep yourself in the eyes of your target audience during the recession. Since you may have less work than normal, this is a great time to do this. Nothing may happen now but in six months you will see results.
19. Tighten or update and keep on top of your credit policy: now is not the time to extend credit blindly, and it is the time to collect from any customers that owe you money.
Hi Michelle, you offer some wonderful suggestions on how to further recession-proof your business this year. I especially like, pay off debt and aggressively work on your marketing plan. Working on both sides of the spectrum — to reduce and increase makes strong business sense.