Economic Crises Call for Better Marketing Plans

Go first to your sales and marketing plans. Review them conceptually. What are you selling, and how will your business offering fare during hard times? Take a step back from the business and give that some real thinking. Some shifts in demand are predictable; some changes in customer base are predictable, too.

When I was doing economic analysis many years ago, I discovered that some markets reacted in strange ways. For example, when there was a big economic crash, the luxury car markets would hold up better than the economy car markets.

On the other hand, during the current real estate crash, sales in California are up over last year, but they're driven by the low end, particularly transactions on foreclosures. Similarly, you should think about your own sales when watching for the signs.

Think: What's changing that might affect my business' sales?

John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, recently suggested that the best thing to do in hard times is focus more and focus better. By narrowing your focus, you can concentrate on your best customers, your key market segments and the parts of your business that are most important to you. That seems like very good advice.

Don't settle for just a conceptual review. Dig into your numbers. Open up your sales forecast and expense budgets and take a long, deep look into what parts of your numbers are most likely to fall off and why. Review and revise. Look at your expenses, and cut where you can. Then look back at your sales and imagine which of your customers, including how many, are doing the same as they plan for their business, therefore reducing their orders from yours.

Think of this as defensive management -- storm preparation at its best. The beauty is it's all within the realm of planning and management. Try to foresee how the storm will affect your business, then review and revise your existing plans accordingly.