Rain-Making in the Desert

Some business owners tend to sit on their hands during an economic downturn - waiting for the market to rebound before they make a move or spend a dime. But although it may seem counter-intuitive, recessions are a great time to get back to the basics of business development and marketing.

As tough as recessions can be on your pocketbook, they do free up space to think and plan - two things that most companies don't do enough of!

If you want to use a short-term lull to drive long-term success, what should you be focusing on?

Relationships. In a down economy it's more important than ever to take care of the customers you have, reconnect with customers you've lost and encourage referrals. By taking every opportunity to interact with people you already know, you can begin to fully understand what needs are in the marketplace and how you can fill them. And while you obviously want to get more money from your connections and leverage their Rolodex, you also need to focus on providing real value and gathering crucial information that will help you set your business up to succeed.

Networking, customer satisfaction calls, face-to-face meetings and hosting events are just a few ways to show your customers, suppliers, vendors and partners that you appreciate them and are concerned about providing thoughtful, personalized service.

Education. It can be hard to reconcile yourself to giving anything away for free, but freebies today drive sales tomorrow. Recessionary economies make consumers cautious, so you have to prove yourself before they will buy from you. Doling out valuable tidbits of information, offering instruction for do-it-yourselfers and having some products or services available for a free trial can create the confidence to earn real purchases.

Now is the time to do whatever it takes to build rapport and trust. Host seminars, offer low-cost classes to share knowledge with the public, allow people to sample your services for free and talk with anyone who will listen about your area of expertise. People do pay attention to companies that demonstrate that they care! Now is not the time to try and monetize every aspect of your business, rather you should be educating consumers on why they should buy from you both now and when their financial picture improves.

Education applies to your internal systems as well. Brief periods of inactivity are great times to mentor your staff, conduct training, implement better processes and upgrade equipment. That way when business picks up again - you're ready!

Market Strategically. During times of plenty marketing efforts can get sloppy. You buy any ad that a salesperson approaches you about... you send out mailers, emails and newsletters willy-nilly... budgets fly out of control as you sponsor events, join professional organizations, and take everyone you know out for lunch.

Economic downturns force companies to make responsible choices about how to spend their precious business development dollars. Go back to your strategic plan and remember who you serve and why. How can you connect with small target audiences on a personal level - and cheaply? Trim the fat from the marketing budget and drop any activities that don't get stellar results.

Most of all, don't stop marketing completely or trust your gut on where to put your marketing dollars. Tracking is the best way to demonstrate how marketing efforts pay off. In tough times many owners and managers think that the first thing to do is cut back on marketing expenses. However, providing numeric results and reporting on success stories are easy ways to underscore the importance of marketing/ business development and demonstrate ROI for the activities you keep.

Developing Action Plans

So, what are action plans really?

Action planning typically includes deciding who is going to do what and by when and in what order for a whole company to reach its strategic goals. Now, if you're a sole proprietor you might be saying, “I AM THE WHOLE COMPANY!” And that’s OK. The design and implementation of your action plan will depend on the nature and needs of your unique business.

Actions plans specify the smaller tasks needed to achieve each of the core strategic planning issues your business faces. They become a bridge across the chasm between where you are and where you want to be. They outline measures of success so that you know when you reach each of the associated goals. They create accountability for follow through by spelling out who will tackle each action, what they need to complete the job, and what time line is acceptable.

"We think in generalities, but we live in detail." Very true.

Here is a quick guide to help you understand how to create an action plan and what elements should be included.

You need someone to take responsibility for each bold step within the action plan. Remember, if you don't reduce the steps to work assignments, they won't happen. And you've got to put someone's name on each one!

I’m working with a client right now who is extremely capable in his field of specialization, but has one huge managerial flaw. He fails to assign specific responsibilities to individuals. Instead, he constantly brainstorms ideas or suggests "we really ought to...,"you should think about..." And that's as close to organizing work as he'll get. Does he have problems? Oh, you bet! His staff comes out of meetings not knowing what to actually implement. They don’t know who is supposed to do what. No wonder the firm suffers from gridlock and chaos.

Let’s look at the elements of a good action plan one at a time:
Strategy: State exactly what strategy you are relying upon to guide the action plan.

Desired Results: Why bother at all? State upfront what will define success (your DESIRED STATE!)

Bold Action Steps: The real action plan should start as a list of the required action steps (or tactics) listed in chronological order so that they flow into each other and nothing crucial is skipped. These steps, taken together, will accomplish the intended strategy. Think about all the activities that must take place and in what order they make sense. What should be done first? What tasks will take a long time? How will the project logically unfold? List the steps in chronological order and by priority.

Assign Accountability: Write someone’s name down as responsible for each step on the list.

What is required?: Without creating a complete project plan for the responsible person, give them the framework to succeed by laying out your expectations of how the action step will unfold and your requirements of their work product. (This gives them the start of their own action plan with more detail!)

Resources and Investments: Naturally, you're going to employ resources to accomplish each action step. These resources may include money, space, equipment, people and information. List the specific resources required to complete each task. Go ahead and plan for allocating the resources to the responsible person as soon as they are needed. And while money is important, don’t discount the need for extra hands or knowledge you don’t currently possess. The resource which turns up scarce more often than any other is the human resource. Time and talent are priceless!

Measure of Success: What will be the key indicators that the action step is complete and has been a success? Lay out several critical factors that you will use to evaluate performance. These could be numbers, ratios, ratings, system changes, a new manual, etc…

Deadline: Things don’t tend to get done without a pressing date on the horizon. Even though you have to be flexible as a manager and allow the strategic plan to unfold in the best way, accountability is necessary to see results. Put down clear dates and set expectations for when each action step will be completed.