More On Surviving A Possible Recession

I’ve received quite a few emails the other day about my last message where I talked about surviving IF we are in a recession.  A lot people were telling me how tough it’s been and how difficult they anticipate it will be this upcoming year. 

You’ve got the drought we’re experiencing down here in the Southeast, the housing market collapse in CA, NY, FL, and other areas, plus the rising gas prices all over the county and it sure looks like it’s going to be a tough year. 

The biggest complaint I got from most people was that they really aren’t sure how they’re going to compete, especially when there are so many LCO’s out there willing to cut their prices just to get a job.

Well, whatever you do, DON’T PLAY THE PRICE GAME!

Competing on price is the absolute WORST mistake you could ever make.  First, people don’t value you or the service you provide and they’ll gladly drop you at a moments notice at the first sign of a cheaper alternative.

Second, these people won’t respect you.  If your customers are of the mindset they can find someone else to do the same job, without any regard to the quality of service or the ‘extras’ you provide, then they’re not customers you want to keep anyway.

You see, you want to build a solid business of customers who respect you, value your expertise, and are willing to pay extra for the quality service you provide.

So how do you make that happen?

Well, the first thing you need to do is target the right prospects.  Don’t waste your time with prospects that can’t afford your services or will want to dicker with every line item on the invoice.  Focus your attention and resources on prospects that you know will appreciate the things you can provide for them.

Second, focus your marketing on the benefits your service offers.  Business is really a value proposition.  Your customer needs or wants something and you have a solution that fits their need or want.  The one they choose to go with is the one that provides them with the best value for their hard earned money.

Now, for a great many prospects the real value isn’t just in the price.  In fact, many people would much rather pay MORE if it means there will be ZERO headaches or problems.  And given the current marketplace, your customers might be super-sensitive to this value proposition so it’s VITAL to provide more value than they expect to receive so concentrate on providing the absolute BEST value for their money.

Third, focus on building relationships.  Solid, legitimate relationships that involve people.  Take the transaction out of it and focus on the people on the other end of the line.  Sure, you still need to provide a service and they still need to pay you for it, but everything else should be genuine and real.

Fourth, focus your marketing efforts on relationship type activities.  Everyone knows word-of-mouth marketing is the BEST form of advertising available so spend some serious time creating and implementing programs that will stimulate a decent amount of referrals with both existing customers and joint venture partners. 

Now, there’s no doubt this could be a challenging 2008.  However, if you’re prepared and understand what you need to do in order to not just survive, but THRIVE, you shouldn’t have any trouble making 2008 your best year yet!

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