Archive for the ‘Lessons from Leaders’ Category

Selling and Surviving During an Economic Downturn

Friday, May 27th, 2022

For some business owners, sales can be a challenge during the best of times, but in Q2 of 2021, serving up products and services for a profit is a matter of survival. Current studies report between 800 and 1500 small business closures have occurred daily in the US between February and September of 2020. While Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota says this is “unacceptable” and has carried the mantel of more pandemic relief for small businesses, as Women in Business what can WE do to keep our businesses open and afloat?

One answer is to take a look at the psychology of consumer spending during past recessions to understand how to continue to market and sell now.

According to Harvard researchers John Quelch and Katherine Jocz, customers and clients unnerved by an economic downturn react by placing goods and services they consider purchasing into one of four categories.

Action Step One: Take a look at the list of categories below and determine where your businesses products land.

Essentials. These are items that consumers need to purchase for survival. Goods and services in this category are central to well being. Food, housing, clothing are a few essentials.

Treats. Items that fall into this category are not essential to well being, but they do provide immediate gratification. Consumers can justify their need to have these goods and services now. Beauty and spa services can fall into this category. Restaurants and dining out may be considered treats as well.

Postponables. When belts are tightened, consumers look for purchases which can be postponed. Getting an appliance repaired instead of spending for a new one is an example of a postponable.

Expendables. Goods and services which may be higher ticket items and are perceived as unnecessary and an unjustifiable expense. The purchase of an expendables can be put off indefinitely. During past recessions luxury items and travel fell into this category.

Action Step Two: Your core marketing message needs to shift to “You need this for the long term, for your ‘new normal’.” And with the dream of a new, less chaotic, more predictable lifestyle etched firmly in their heads, consumers and clients will be more likely to purchase items from the postponable and expendable categories.

Action Step Three: Use optimistic, upbeat, positive language to tell the story of how your goods and services will enhance and support the ‘new normal’ lifestyle your clients are creating. If you are selling postponable kitchen cabinets, hook harried customers in by telling them a story on social media with beautiful new cupboards with plenty of effortless space for everything they need to store now and in the future.

Action Step Four: Connection is king! Haven’t heard from a key customer for a while? Pick up the phone and give them a call just to check in and see how they are doing. This is not a sales call, it is a “connecting with you” call. Be positive and upbeat-its not the time to commiserate but it is a time to express gratitude and bring joy into a client’s day. Remember when we used to send and receive cards in the mail? Another effective connection strategy is to send a card just to say “thank you” or “thinking of you”. Writing a personal note has become a lost art which your business can capitalize on to make an impact and stand out from the crowd.

Action Step Five: Reach out to your local Chamber of Commerce to be sure that you are taking advantage of all of the marketing and networking tools available through your continued membership. The staff members are experts at connecting members and services with community resources such as the Small Business Administration.

Action Step Six: As I mention in my “Navigating Personal and Professional Change” presentation, a way to keep your own spirits high is to “Remember-Now is not forever!” Practice gratitude by counting your blessings everyday. And make an effort to do something kind for someone else everyday. Focusing on helping others will help you in more ways than you can possibly imagine.

Cheering you on to success!

 

©Rita Perea 2021

Post-recession Economy: Leader or Manager?

Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

“The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.” – Warren Bennis, Author

Do these words resonnate with you?
Strategic vs. Tactical
Visionary vs. Realist
People vs. Process
Leader vs. Manager

There was a time when the responsibilities of the manager and that of the leader could be separated. A foreman in an industrial-era factory didn’t have to give much thought to what he was producing or to the people who were producing it. His or her job was to follow orders, organize the work, assign the right people to the necessary tasks, coordinate the results, and ensure the job got done. The industrial manager’s focus was on efficiency.
(more…)

Mindfulness Over Multi-Tasking

Tuesday, March 6th, 2018

A five-week trip to Australia a few years ago left a lasting impact on my life in so many unpredictable ways.
During the adventure, which was funded as a cultural exchange by Rotary International, I was fortunate to stay in 11 different homes to experience life as an Aussie.  One of my most important takeaways from the sojourn was to learn how different the Australian relationship with time and with work are compared to ours in the U.S.

Research has shown us that when we multi-task it takes us 25 percent longer to accomplish a task. That’s right… instead of getting more done in a short period of time, multi-takings, doing two or more things at once, actually lengthens the time that it takes to complete something.

Think about it. You are working away on an email when you remember that you forgot to pull the file for your next meeting. So, you stop working on the email, go over to the filing cabinet, find the file, return with the file to your desk, only to sit down and say to yourself, “What was I doing?  Oh, yeah, I remember now.”  You now have to re-read your half-composed email before finishing and sending it. You know in your gut that you aren’t accomplishing as much as you could.  You secretly wonder what is wrong with you and why you can’t get all of this work finished.

The Aussies would say, “No worries, Mate!” and invite you slow down and do one thing at a time. Also called mindfulness, it is focusing on being present, really, really present, with the one task that you are trying to complete or the one thing that you are doing.

Have you ever had the experience of being so fully engaged and present in a project that you lost all track of time? This is the opposite of multi-tasking- that crazy randomness of doing several things at once.

I learned from my Australian friends that they do what they can do at this moment and they do not worry about the rest. And they do this moment-by-moment.  This results in a more relaxed and easy going demeanor. They experience less stress.

The Australians also know and understand the value of “taking a break, Mate.” (more…)

Latest Article

Selling and Surviving During an Economic Downturn

For some business owners, sales can be a challenge during the best of times, but in Q2 of 2021, serving up products and services for …


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