Saturday, November 21st, 2009

I took a phone call at my office the other day from a pleasant sounding young man representing the national office supply store I have a reward card with. He spent a minute of my time reading from a script about the current deals the company had and then asked me if I would place an order and receive an additional 10% discount. I was very impressed at this point with the telemarketing campaign this company was undertaking to boost sales in this difficult financial period. As all small business people do several times a day, I wished I had thought of this marketing strategy and assisted my clients in implementing it.Unfortunately, I didn’t need 3 cases of copy paper or a new desk chair so I told the young man that I could not take advantage of the program at this time. I expected to hear him say, “Thanks for your time and we look forward to serving you when you need future office supplies.” Unfortunately, the next words out of his mouth were – “I need you to place an order today because I have a quota and will be fired if I don’t meet my quota this week.” Very little in the business world shocks me anymore but this ...
Tags: Financial Period, Recession, Shocks
Posted in Customer Service | No Comments 
Thursday, October 1st, 2009

The Small Business Recession Plan “B”: How to Create the Six-Part Contingency Plan That Will Help You Guide Your Business Through the StormIf you’re a small business owner, your list of worries seems never-ending. For starters, consumer confidence is down and your sales are starting to reflect that reality. And as experts predict a deep recession, it’s doubtful things will start looking up anytime soon. Yes, you’ve been wringing your hands and obsessing over the financial news for months, while simultaneously scrambling to keep your customers happy and your business strong. But action is the best antidote for agonizing—and now is the perfect time to create a recession contingency plan that will help you guide your business through any future rough patches.Too often, when the economy goes south, a small business owner is paralyzed by anxiety and isn’t able to act quickly enough to save his or her company. Having a well conceived contingency plan in place gives you peace of mind when trouble hits and enables you to act quickly.For small business owners, contingency planning is one of the best and most effective preventive actions you can take in a down economy.Contingency planning will allow you to make the best possible decisions for your business if things continue to get worse ...
Tags: Difficult Decision, Plan B, Recession
Posted in Business Continuity Planning | No Comments 