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One thing you can say about any economic downturn...it sure puts things. It's pretty obvious these days that unless you're selling food, water, air, shelter, or utilities, then you've been tagged as a luxury.
Things are so tight that people continue to look at everything and ask themselves what they can do without. Restaurants, nightclubs, and even entertainment providers like Blockbuster continue feeling the effects of a population that views even their relatively inexpensive products as unnecessary. And you might (pretty accurately) be lumping your products or services in this group. If so, it's even more imperative that you adapt and make some adjustments in your approach.
If you're going to not only survive but thrive you're going to have to reinvent your services in the perception of your buyers...and you need to position the product as much as possible as a 'need' as opposed to a 'want'. First, I'd be remiss if I didn't encourage you to stem unnecessary business expenses. If you haven't put the breaks on yet and reevaluated costs, then you need to do so. Second, I encourage you to 'choke up on the marketing bat' and revisit your overall marketing program. Your marketing approach should be different in good times versus the challenging times.
In the challenging times, the best approach is a defensive one. I'd recommend an evaluation of advertising costs looking for good bang/buck ratios. And I'd put more emphasis on those activities that are relatively inexpensive. In these times, a referral marketing program is (generally) going to be more effective than a billboard campaign.
By strengthen and evaluating the company's position, you'll be in better shape when the economy improves. And you'll be all the wiser for it happening.
