We Reap what we Sow. What are you Sowing?
“You reap what you sow: Life is like a boomerang. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.” Grant M. Bright
You reap what you sow. What you work for is what you will get. Do not expect to get success if you do not do what needs to be done.
The global pandemic followed by a forced lockdown changed our lives for good, for many of us at least.
Talking about the business and the economic uncertainties caused by the pandemic, every business needs to look at a revised strategy to sustain in the business. No longer it is business as usual or is it?
With the uncertainty came along the resistance to give up and businesses looked for ways to continue. “Work from Home” and a business continuity model came out as a blessing in disguise. This is something relatively new to us Indians.
A look at how our sales team dealt with the situation…
During the Pandemic infused downtime we were in a predicament on how to approach and address the situation just like any other business would do. Since most of our customers and prospects are based overseas, we were keeping a close tab of the effects of the virus out there. And it was pretty much same everywhere; furloughs, redundancies, businesses shutting down, people breaking down and all the worse facets which we never thought of.
So we finally decided to put the lid on the warm kettle for a bit. We did not entirely shut our sales efforts but took a step back and thought it through. We felt the best way was just to be connected to our prospects, stay in touch and keep them informed of our offshore operations just in case if they needed any support without coming across as salesy or pushy.
But when dealing with uncertainty, we made sure to look at how to ease our customers’ concerns. We practiced empathy and expressed our company’s collective support to all our customer base. Our tone as always was relatable and we constantly communicated that we are all in this together. A human touch is what was needed the most as a business solace towards our customers and we just did that.
But the question is can we please everyone? Unfortunately, no. We can, however, nurture them as much as possible. People like being taken care of during times of uncertainty. This is the time we have to be humane and considerate towards each other even if it comes to compromising on business gains. For example, with one of our clients in the UK Logistics market – there was a period during the initial stages of the outbreak where like most businesses their business was a complete shut off. With their offshore team nearly non-functional with us, the client was in a catch 22 situation weather to pull the plug or to carry on even if it meant paying us without getting any business in return.
Again talking about a recruitment client of ours from the UK, was indirectly forced to stop their operations as their field of recruitment was completely halted.
So with both the above scenarios which were quite similar, we decided to support our clients and stand up with them during their downtime. We went above and beyond for our clients by keeping their offshore operations running with us as usual but at bare minimum costings. We were not even covering our own overheads as we slashed out the operational charges for 3 consecutive months.
Core businessmen would say this is stupidity but for us our esteemed customers are everything and we would do everything humanly possible to stand up to our commitments towards them.
This gesture of support towards our customers during a period of financial strain will surely go a long way in ensuring customer loyalty.
We’ve learned that companies who measure customer satisfaction are more likely to consider themselves successful. A company’s only continuing resolution should be to deliver better customer service and to “be there” for their customers when it is most required. Customer centricity, support and euphoria can take businesses to the highest elevation.
So with our experience, this is our effort to write something that might help other businesses who are planning to build up a prospect base. The best thing we suggest is to keep your communications open and stay put towards keeping the clients regularly posted on any new industry changes or insights that may help them make better decisions.
A few points which can be considered while marketing your business during this uncertain period of time:
- Know your customer – If you treat your customer as just another account, they would also treat you as just another service provider. Reciprocity is the social construct that makes the world go round. You need to know your customer inside out; their preferences, their needs, their pain points, and keep adding value to their business. This will eventually change their perceptions towards you from just a service provider to a business partner and this is how you will win their loyalty.
- Client Communication – Regular and effective communication with your clients is important, plain and simple. It is more than just exchanging information. It’s about understanding the emotion and intentions behind the information; this shows your client’s you understand their needs.
- Focus on existing Customers – Existing customers should always be a large part of your business. Satisfied and growing existing customers are the best source of referrals and reference sites – this is the most powerful lead generation engine for winning new accounts!
- Be Adaptive – In today’s volatile business environment, adaptability and increased customer centricity are more important than ever. The goal of your business should be to build an enduring competitive advantage by establishing clever market positioning and assembling the right capabilities and competencies.
- Be Competitive – Staying competitive today means being able to recognize the “right moment” and be at the right place at the right time. You need to know who your competitors are and you also need to be constantly on the lookout for possible new competition.
- Be present – Business visibility is much needed. Continuing to run your marketing campaigns through the pandemic will communicate a stability that can survive even the most uncertain of times.
- Be ready to help – A kind gesture, regardless how big or small goes a long way. Same goes with a client, if you have helped a client by going out of your way, they will never forget this and when the right time comes they will repeat the favour. This would be a big win for you.
Pick one of these ideas or all of them and get started powering up your business.
There is no better time than today. And as always, reach out to us on [email protected] if we can help in any way.