The Opportunity in Recession

There will be winners as well as losers in this new financial world order so we need to look at it as an opportunity. In business you have to look for the positives in every situation, because they surely exist and the new economic situation is no different; it is an opportunity for us to look at our business offering and to take a good hard look at our own websites or marketing material and work out the best way to make that offering visible and obvious.

Times are tough but this does not necessarily mean that we need to put a huge discount sale signs up everywhere, a lack of cash can mean that customers everywhere seek more bang for their buck which can be presented as extra value rather than reduced cost. If ever there was a time to make added value statements then now is that time. But tread warily, just because times are tight that does not mean that quality can be ignored or discounted, they are just as important as ever. What we need to do is find ways to make our services or products deliver more or add more value to our Clients business.

Once again it is time to focus on our Clients business needs and the commercial pressures that they are under and help them to design in added value messages into their marketing communications. It does not cost a lot to give a little and in these times we will all need to give a little more to ensure that we retain that business, in the same way that our Clients have to offer more, or to be seen to be offering more, as usual perceptions are more important that reality.

If you want to retain loyalty then my advice is be proactive (we all use that word but how many of us actually practice it?), take a good objective look at your customers' web design and make positive suggestions as to how they can create the perception of 'added value offerings' and remember its not just about cutting costs it can be about more for the same or even less. Don't wait until they come to you as by then they may be feeling a lot more pain, adapt quickly as the winners are usually the ones who embrace evolution.

• If you cannot work out the most effective message, then you can test your assumptions and learn then implement a better solution.
• For the next 12 months it is going to be a changing economic landscape, so don't sit on your laurels, don't expect this months solution to be the same on that will get you through 2009.
• Things will change faster than they have before so build change into the programme. Set much more frequent review dates than in the past.
• Spend more time talking to your customers about their business, if you are helping their business then they will not see this as a waste of time.
• When this starts to work export it to other Clients and use it to attract new business for yourself. Be one of the winners out of this situation.
• Finally, if your Clients don't use web stats then they ought to, give them Google Analytics and then they will then see the value that your work really adds to their business. How else can they value your service if they do not know what you contribute to their business?