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.
