Marketing, Post-COVID: Don’t Make Assumptions

This article originally appeared on www.MDAndersenCPA.com

I have the privilege of coaching and consulting with business owners in a variety of different industries.

And one of the most striking realities of the coronavirus outbreak has been how different the fallout has been, depending on what industry the business operates in.

I’ve seen businesses lose 90% of their revenue almost overnight.

I’ve seen other businesses nearly triple post-COVID. And I’ve seen everything in between.

Even though, on average, the economy is hurting – many businesses and many individuals are still doing very well.  

That means two things:

1) Your customers and clients may be doing just fine, despite coronavirus. In which case you may be able to continue marketing and selling to them in much the same way you did so before the outbreak. If that’s the case, you can ignore the doom-and-gloom prophecies and resist the temptation to panic, slash your prices, and downsize your team.

2) If your customers and clients are struggling right now, you likely don’t have to look very far to find other customers that need your products & services and are able to pay for them. This may require a quick pivot, but if you keep your eyes open and alert to the opportunity, you can do it.

It really comes down to mindset. The best description of entrepreneurship I ever heard was that “building a business is like running through a series of brick walls. As soon as you break through, you’re rewarded with another one.”

COVID-19 has certainly been a massive brick wall for many business owners. But there’s still opportunity if you’re willing to keep looking for it.

How can you adapt to your new environment? How can you leverage your current assets to solve new problems for your customers?

The best thing you can do for your family, for your business, and for our country as a whole is to keep marketing and keep selling your products and services. If your customers are still willing to buy, keep selling to them! And if they’re not, don’t give up. Get creative and look for ways to pivot and create value in the post-COVID economy.

That might mean developing new products and services – like distilleries across the nation that quickly pivoted from producing liquor to producing hand sanitizer.

Or it could mean providing new solutions to the same customers – like event planners who have quickly learned how to produce effective virtual events.

Or it may mean radically shifting your operations to solve the new problems that your customers are facing – like the countless restaurants around the country that quickly began offering take-out and delivery services.

Bottom line: despite the economic downturn, there is still opportunity if you’re willing to look for it. Don’t make assumptions, and don’t give up!

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Danny Decker

I work with business owners to create real, practical marketing plans – and create systems to make sure the plan actually gets executed. I’ll help you put a strategy in place to create predictably positive cash-flow, to generate new leads consistently, to create more referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, and much more.

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