Dr. Todd Saxton and Dr. Kim Saxton, authors of “The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups,” offer these three tips for growing your business in a downturn.
1. Make it as easy as possible for customers to work with you. Make the sales process as “self-serve” as possible and remove any bumpy parts of your process. Give them multiple ways to do business with you—talk to representative, email, or fill out online form, etc. That might mean adopting new technology into your processes.
2. Pivot to serve essential businesses. Right now some businesses have been deemed “essential.” They will have strong and urgent needs. Be their partner and enable them to do their work. It might be hard to get their attention. But, if you fix their pain points they will be receptive.
3. Plan a virtual reopening. If your business is non-essential, now is the time to get ready for when this crisis passes. So, make a plan. If it is one month out, three months, six months out—how are you going to be ready to serve customers again? How do you let them know you are back?