Tough Tactics For Tough Times: How to Maintain Business Success in Difficult Economic Conditions

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Downturn, slowdown, economic wobble, recession - no matter what the substance of a change, or what it might officially be called, there are times when you know that things have changed, and for the worse. Forecasts become uncertain and less than encouraging. Columnists struggle to pin the blame on someone or something, whether the blanks, the government or some unstoppable international trend, and the only thing that matters for the moment is that you need to take action to maintain the viability of your business. At worst, survival becomes the name of the game. Tough Tactics for Tough Times recognizes all of this and the need it prompts for fundamental review. Action is likely to be needed in all sorts of areas - marketing, management, finance, organization - and you may need to: Cut costs; Maintain markets and profitability; Reorganize finances and personnel; Change the way things are done in every area of operations. Whatever your responsibility - the whole organization or just part of it - the best advice initially is to pause and consider and Tough Tactics for Tough Times is designed to help. It contains more than 50 areas to think about. Some might result in you making one significant change; others might prompt further review or a campaign of action. All can make a positive difference in difficult times when, to quote a famous retailer, "every little helps". About The Author Patrick Forsyth runs Touchstone Training & Consultancy, which advises on marketing, management and communications skills. An established author, he has written many successful business books including Successful Time Management, How to Motivate People and How to Write Reports and Proposals (all part of the Creating Success series published by Kogan Page). Frances Kay consults and advises on all aspects of business, career and personal development with particular emphasis on corporate relationship building. An experienced author, she has written a number of successful business books including Understanding NLP and is editor of The Good Non Retirement Guide 2009 (both published by Kogan Page). Table of Contents Introduction - time to keep your nerve Your attitude throughout the piece Making decisions - ready, aim... fire Taking time can be the quickest and surest way Getting paid Guerrilla tactics that work - competitor analysis Idea generation - thinking laterally Do themaths Boost performance - motivate your people Tackling difficult issues - get uncomfortable Time management - focus on key issues Check staff employment contracts Check employment contracts (for the employee) Cut down on travel Negotiate to get costs down Have a (personal) escape plan Small can be beautiful - shedding people Staff - delegating tasks Image and presentation count Not giving customers an inch Distribution - the right channel Scrap marketing no-no’s Customer relationship management - encouraging loyalty The art of saying no Killing the problem before it kills you - stress busting Maximize business-winning skills Better abroad? Saving your skin by saving your work - computer backup Learning from experience - knowing your customers Spotting new opportunities - strategic alliances Detox and save (expenses) Listen carefully - information vs secrecy Fine-tune sales techniques Less is more ‘Best buy’ promotional mix Getting a little help from your friends (networking) Don’t be cautious - be bold Pricing policy to maximize profitability Outsource to survive Mobility counts - being flexible to change Watching your figure(s) - cash flow and paying bills Quick change promotion Increasing price (without increasing price) Leave no stone unturned to stimulate sales Being memorable New ways of looking at things Big stick or kid gloves (the right approach to dealing with difficult staff) Top ten ideas for keeping afloat on rough waters Wow! - the power of service excellence Improved ratios/increased sales Maximizing web business New prospects - focusing to create the best potential It’s a matter of attitude Afterword