March, 2020 | LEVERAGE

March 27, 2020April 6, 2020

How to Adapt and Thrive During Times of Uncertainty

As a business owner, you can adapt and thrive during times of uncertainty.

One of the things I’ve noticed companies doing is that they’re taking their eye off the ball in terms of generating revenue. This is because they are so focused on cost-cutting and borrowing.

The Time to Generate Revenue is Now

Both of these things are necessary at this time. Companies have to contract and reduce costs and, where necessary, borrow in order to remain cash flow positive. But that should not be in lieu of generating revenue. Revenue generation should be just as important now as it was prior to the pandemic.

This is an issue that companies are failing to recognize. Just because times are tough and we are stuck in our home doesn’t mean we can’t still generate revenue. You just have to figure out how and pivot and look for those opportunities within your specific business.

One way to continue generating revenue is by taking care of your existing customers. Make sure sure you’re continuing to provide them with value.
Another way is to reallocate your short-term marketing budgets you had set aside for tradeshows and conferences and apply that to digital marketing.

Although demand for services has declined, it’s not like it’s nonexistent. People are still buying; where they were once buying in person, they’re now buying online. You have to be present when they are searching for your product or service offering.

Ramping Up Virtual Consultations

One of the things we’re having a lot of success with and seeing our clients have a lot of success with is consultations. Instead of doing in-person consultations onsite, they are doing virtual consultations using Zoom, UberConference, or GoToMeeting. We are also seeing seminars being conducted virtually. Where a seminar may have been conducted in-person, now they are being done virtually and with great success.

The opportunities are there. You just have to take a step back, assess your current situation, and think about the needs of your customers and how you can meet those needs even though you may not be able to physically be in front of them when you do.

March 26, 2020March 30, 2020

How to Continue Driving Revenue During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As a business owner, one of your primary goals right now should be to find ways to continue driving revenue during the pandemic. Your business needs cash flow, and while you can certainly borrow, you’ll have to pay that money back at some point. As we may be headed for a recession or already in the midst of one, finding ways to maintain positive cash flow through revenue instead of debt will put your business in a much better position now and in the future.

Here are a few ways to continue driving revenue during this uncertain time.

Focus on Your Best Customers

Depending on your line of business, your best customers may need you now more than ever. So, pick up the phone and call them to see how they’re doing and what you can do to help them. Our best customers are the reason we’re in business and you better believe we’re working harder than ever to make sure their businesses not only survive this crisis, but are well positioned to come out of it even stronger.

Increase Your Investment in Digital Marketing

If you’ve historically relied on in-person networking, trade shows, or conferences to drive revenue, you need digital marketing now more than ever to replace that lost revenue. We’ll likely see both the volume and duration of online usage achieve record breaking levels during the pandemic as people spend more time on Google, Facebook, Youtube, and other platforms as a result of being at home. This is the perfect opportunity to make sure your brand is front and center, and top of mind with potential customers. People will still need goods and services despite the pandemic.

Utilize Video Conferencing

If you typically meet with customers face-to-face, video conferencing can be a great alternative to canceled appointments. There are plenty of video conferencing options available, such as GoToMeeting, Zoom, and UberConference. Don’t settle for trying to replace in-person meetings with a phone call. Video conferencing is a much more effective alternative, because it mimics an in-person interaction more. With a phone call, you’re unable to see your customer’s facial expressions and body language, which may communicate more to you than what they’re saying verbally.

Serve New Segments

Consider serving new segments that can benefit from your offering. We already have clients pivoting to serve segments that they historically haven’t served to help diversify their clientele. For example, perhaps you typically focus on high ticket items, but may find there are fewer of those now, while there is still demand for lower ticket items. These lower ticket items will help keep the revenue coming in until demand for your more profitable higher ticket offering resumes.

Pivot Your Offering

Restaurants that typically rely on in-store dining are doing an excellent job of pivoting their offering right now by focusing on delivery and takeout. Gyms can pivot by offering virtual personal training sessions and classes. Physicians can pivot to virtual consultations. Attorneys can pivot to different practice areas that are in higher demand during a recession. Home service business can pivot from installs to repairs. These are just a few of many examples of how you can pivot, which ultimately depends on your business and unique circumstances.

Remember, this is a temporary event. So, focus on driving revenue not only to secure your business now, but to set it up for success once the pandemic ends and the economy rebounds.

March 17, 2020March 30, 2020

5 Steps to Help Your Business Thrive in a Time of Economic Uncertainty

With the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), you are not only responsible for your personal health and the health of your loved ones, but also for the health of your business. With the U.S. economy potentially headed for a recession, the country is in a severe state of economic uncertainty, and that is not good for business. However, it can be good for your business if you take certain steps to adapt.

Consumers will continue spending, and someone has to be there to meet that demand. Just because there’s economic uncertainty, doesn’t mean that you still don’t have payroll and other financial obligations to meet, or sales goals to achieve. You must adapt in order to keep the train on the tracks, and potentially come out of this economic turmoil with an even stronger business.

Here are five ways you can take advantage of the current state of uncertainty.

Step 1: Ramp up marketing while your competitors sit on the sidelines

Henry Ford once said, “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.” With many of your competitors pulling back, this is the perfect opportunity to ramp up your sales and marketing activities, potentially at a lower cost. Advertising costs in general will decline, which means your marketing budget will go further than it did before. This presents a prime opportunity to gain market share from your competitors, and position your company to be even stronger and more dominant than it was before.

Step 2: Evaluate expenses, and trim the fat

Times like this present a great opportunity to evaluate your expenses and determine if there is any fat you can trim. Do you have any unnecessary expenditures that can be reduced? For example, we recently replaced K cups in our office with a 30oz can of Folgers. With this change, we went from spending roughly $80 per month on coffee to just $7 per month. This resulted in a savings of almost $900 over the course of a year. We also reduced the janitorial services for our office from twice a week to once a week. The office is just as clean as it was before, but for half the cost. We’re now saving over $1000 per month from those changes, and have since reallocated those funds to our own marketing efforts, where we typically see a 3x to 5x return. So, we’re not only saving $1000 per month, we’re actually earning an average of $4000 per month from those reductions in our office expenditures.

Step 3: Strengthen your team and encourage professional development

Use this opportunity to strengthen your team. Economic uncertainty impacts your employees just as much as it impacts you. It’s important to keep employee morale up during this time. Take a few minutes to check in with each of your employees and see how they’re doing. This also gives you an opportunity to provide your employees with feedback and encourage them to take advantage of professional development opportunities if business slows. If you have any employees who are underperforming, this is also a good time to address those issues. You can’t afford to have employees who aren’t significant contributors to the company’s bottom line during uncertain economic times.

Step 4: Reevaluate your business plan and be prepared to pivot

In the event business slows, use that time to reevaluate your business plan. There may be opportunities for growth that you haven’t thought of, or weren’t present before. For instance, you may be able to pivot to a different offering or serve a different audience. There may also be opportunities to improve your operations. For example, if and when things slow for your business, use this time to focus on building better systems and improving efficiencies. This can result in increased productivity and ultimately a more profitable business once things pick back up.

Step 5: Place more emphasis on digital marketing

Companies that typically rely on in-person networking, conferences, and tradeshows to drive new business will have to find alternative means of generating business. Sales quotas must still be met, but the traditional planes, trains, and automobiles method isn’t going to work as long as COVID-19 is an issue. There is a tremendous opportunity here for those that have historically relied on networking to create a digital marketing strategy to replace this lost revenue. Develop a digital marketing plan with a heavy emphasis on search engine optimization, social media marketing, and retargeting. Keep in mind that if people are stuck in their homes for long periods of time, they will be spending a lot of time on Google and Facebook.

Regardless of what the future holds, take this opportunity to evaluate your business and make the changes that are necessary to not only survive, but to continue to grow and thrive.

Month: March 2020