Your Competitive Advantage In Sales and Digital Marketing
In a crisis situation, a business owner can sometimes lose sight of what is important: upholding the values of the business. No business owner can achieve today’s mission and tomorrow’s vision if the business values falter.
Unless you’ve conditioned yourself to have the right kind of muscle memory, a crisis will most likely cause reflexive, negative thinking. This mindset will distract you and your team from achieving your goals. Get too distracted, and you might jeopardize your business altogether!
As you’ve probably heard me say before, you need to maintain calm in a crisis. Your team and your customers are looking to you for leadership, whether they’re conscious of this or not. If they sense you wavering in words or actions, you run the risk of hemorrhaging your most precious resources: your team and the people whom they serve.
Most actions in the business can be boiled down to two essential categories: Flow and conversion. Marketing and sales.
As a successful owner of multiple businesses, I’ve learned that in times of crisis there are five marketing and sales strategies you must deploy to maintain your business–if not push it to a whole new level of success.
1. Activate a startup mentality
The most successful business owners never lose that startup fire, the fire they had when the business was young and scrappy. They never lose that wide-eyed belief that everything is possible and anything can be achieved. The difference between then and now? Experience. Perspective. Confidence.
For example, a startup would never run an automated social media campaign. Why? Because automated campaigns are scheduled for the future you think will happen, not the environment your customers are in at this very moment. Startups can’t afford to poorly predict the future from limited chronological data. Running automated campaigns? Pause them. You never know what a pre-scheduled, unintentionally tone deaf campaign might do to tarnish your reputation in already turbulent times.
Launch into a reverse-first marketing strategy by focusing on retaining your existing customers, super-serving your loyal client base, and stabilizing your business’s foundation.
2. Develop a process for every employee to understand your brand’s value propositions, products, and services
This should be the strategy even when the business isn’t experiencing a crisis, because each and every one of your employees is a salesperson. Through each daily task and through interactions with customers, your team has the opportunity to either help or harm the business.
Whose fault is it if your employees don’t understand every aspect of your brand, your value proposition, your products, and your services? “Yours” is the only correct answer to this question. Give your employees the resources they need. Update them. Keep them in the loop. Empower them with knowledge. If an employee doesn’t follow through, then he’s revealed a lackluster level of commitment and you should proceed accordingly.
3. Pull sales revenue forward by creating packages
Energize your existing customer base by incentivizing customers through discount and “out of the box” packages. This strategy will provide you with the necessary cash reserves to make it through this crisis and the next.
By using tactics like offering them a discount if they pay their next three, six, or twelve months, you’re stabilizing your business and helping theirs through your products or services. Additionally, you’ll attract new customers because you’re stable and you have competitive rates.
Always look for the opportunities laying within the big picture.
4. Diversify roles
Listen, this is the reality of a business crisis. There’s no time for “that’s not my job” conversations. That mindset that will quickly — very quickly — evolve into, “I need a job” conversations.
In a crisis, it’s all hands on deck. We wear multiple hats together. We weather the storm together. And we enjoy the rewards of our work together once we’ve made it to the other side.
That’s teamwork.
5. Pause your marketing? No! Lean into it instead.
I get it. You wanna save cash, and one of the areas where you invest the most money is marketing. Naturally, you think you should cut your marketing budget. Don’t do it. Instead, lean into your marketing team’s ability to elevate your brand, increase your visibility, and showcase how well the business is doing despite the crisis you’re facing.
Keeping the marketing faucet on shows your resilience, your creative thinking, and keeps you top of mind with your existing and potential customers.
When you make the decision to cut back on marketing instead of finding new and creative ways to reach your customers, you’re essentially deflating the value of your brand. Instead, use a marketing mindset to get you to the next level.
6. Stay focused on your goals. Stay true to your values. Remember your mission.
You have more control over the future of your business than you realize. Stay calm, focus on marketing and sales, and really lean into the power of your team. You’ll come out of this situation even more successful than you were before.
Do you have a 10X level of belief? If so, I want to meet you!
Contact Cardone Ventures TODAY to learn how Brandon Dawson and the CV team can help you scale and grow your business!
Recent Comments