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A Bad Economy Doesn't Mean Stick Your Head In The Sand

Written by: Jeffrey Summers

Article Overview: Focus more on what you can do to take control of your own destiny and leave the things you can’t control out of your head.

A Bad Economy Doesn't Mean Stick Your Head In The Sand

I’ve been trying not to post a “Top X# of things to do in this bad economy” list because we simply don’t believe you should do anything different than you should have been doing already, i.e., create a sensible marketing strategy that focuses on long term growth and then execute that strategy in terms of present day opportunities and challenges. The economy is just one variable in that equation and should not be given any more weight just because the media makes everything sound like the end of the world as we know it. (If it was a great economy and you suddenly found yourself facing a doubling of the available seating capacity on your market - what’s the difference?). Focus more on what you can do to take control of your own destiny and leave the things you can’t control out of your head.

But the clamoring for it is never ending and I’m now starting to read and hear a lot of crap from people who have no clue, so here goes…

1. Don’t panic! It really isn’t the end of the world so stop acting like it is - laying off staff, focusing on cutting costs to the bone, putting a hold on all marketing activities, etc… Now is the time to work smarter and harder while everyone else is cutting back.

2. Take a look at your marketing plan to see if you can do more of anything that will help you solidify existing guests (It costs 5 times more to get a new one than to take care of an existing one!). Look for ways to add value to what you are currently doing. Can you innovate any of your processes or offerings to add value to your guest experiences and therefore build better and stronger guest relationships? How can you reward loyal guest more or better?

3. Look at re-engineering your menu to ensure you are making money and not losing it. This includes making sure you are not squeezing your margins just to hold the line on prices. People will pay you for a perceived value or they will pay you for a commodity product. Which do you prefer?

4. Absolutely, positively DO NOT DISCOUNT! This is the quickest way to ensure you won’t have a profitable business in the future. Becoming a commodity, screwing your margins and diluting your Brand will not help you in any way. Guests will not understand why you charged so much to begin with and will come to expect lower prices in the future - if you have one.

5. Deliver spectacular experiences in order to build a foundation for creating better and more loyal guest relationships! Service is the defining point of value for every single guest. Coach your staff at the point of action to create a better service culture.

6. If you need help, now is the time to ask for it! Push yourself and your business to do more and take control of your own success instead of simply sticking your head in the sand and hoping it all balances out in the end. I’m in the business of making more money today than I did yesterday. I’m not in the “balancing it out in the end” business.

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Article Tags: challenges, clue, commodity product, crap, economy, guest experiences, loyal guest, making money, margins, marketing plan, marketing strategy, offerings, own destiny, present day, relationships



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