Could your business grow..despite current conditions?

 

 

Periods of economic uncertainty can present opportunities for the agile business.

In recent years, many major economies have experienced a high degree of turbulence. Numerous market sectors have seen declining revenues and there often appears to be little consistency in analysts’ forecasts for the future. Many businesses are resigned to doing whatever they can to make the best of the situation and focus on surviving until their market recovers. However, is it possible for businesses to be more ambitious and aim to grow their revenues during tough market conditions?

Winning new accounts

As organisations look to reduce costs, many are turning to outsourcing. Activities that companies used to carry out in-house are now being performed by external businesses, consultants and agencies. Proactively searching for such opportunities could help you to replace lost income or even grow your sales. As businesses sharpen their focus on improving efficiency, many are re-evaluating long-established relationships with suppliers. Again, this can create opportunities. Could your business now be given the chance to bid for orders from customers that were previously closed to your approaches? If so, you’ll need to ensure your bid clearly illustrates the business benefits you can deliver. Although cost reduction may be the main motivation for the customer, there may be ways in which you can help customers to take cost out of their business operations… without it affecting your margin. However, it’s worth remembering that your own loyal customers could also be investigating alternative suppliers. So, it’s important to make sure you continue to build on existing relationships and maintain high levels of customer service.

Let your competitors lose heart… and lose out

In the public sector, budgets may be under pressure – but that doesn’t mean that all expenditure will cease. If some suppliers are seeking to reduce their reliance on public sector customers, this can create opportunities. If your competitors are temporarily distracted by their efforts to move into other markets, the fact that they’ve ‘taken their eye off the ball’ could work to your advantage.

Of course, tough market conditions can be dispiriting for all businesses – including your competitors. If you do all that you can to motivate your staff and help them to rise above the negativity, perhaps you can leave it to your competitors to ‘lose heart’ and give you the opportunity to win a greater share of the overall market. Furthermore, if you concentrate on getting your strategy right during a downturn, your business could be in pole position to capitalise on the upturn when it arrives.

At Kall Kwik Bury St Edmunds– regardless of economic conditions – we have always focussed on building strong customer relationships… with attentive service and value for money at the core of our offering. That’s why we continue to attain such high customer retention rates.