S3 Blog

During a credit crunch it can be very tempting for a business to almost refuse to spend money on investments and these can be seen as quite risky. No business want to lose money and during a credit crunch businesses bottom line is the key to the business succeeding. As a result many businesses will not invest and this can actually be to their detriment as it is possible to invest your way out of trouble.

Whilst it may seem quite foolhardy to invest money during a credit crunch investing your way out of trouble can sometimes be the most sensible move for a business. This can be for several reasons, such as:

1. Often making investments in small, up and coming new businesses which have massive potential, can be a very wise decision during a credit crunch - if the business can afford it. Investing money during a credit crunch usually works out cheaper than investing during a time of financial stability. So in effect a business can invest less money and still benefit in the same way once a credit crunch is over.

2. Making wise investment during the credit crunch can be a lifesaver for many businesses. Just make sure that if you choose to invest in the business capital that you have done a great deal of research on your potential investment before parting with any money.

3. Some businesses find that by investing money in a certain way they can actually offer customers more options. So instead of weakening the business by spending money, investing money works out as a preferred method of strengthening the business.

4. Investing should always make the business money in the long run, if your investment has this potential then you should take it with both hands.

5. Maybe your business actually needs to invest to survive a credit crunch. If this is the case and that is all that is standing between your business succeeding or failing then investment is the obvious choice for any smart business owner.

6. Investing doesn’t necessarily have to involve money - your business may need to invest time in a project to succeed. As a business owner if you can see that some of your employees time could be invested and could produce healthy profits then this is an option that you should certainly consider.

7. Look at the long-term when thinking about making investments - to make sure that your business can survive a credit crunch you need to look into the future. If you can see that an investment could stand to make a massive return in two or three years this should be appealing. However before you invest make sure that your business can stand to be without this money for a set period of time, otherwise your investment would be in vain

Investing your way out of trouble certainly is possible but it is essential that a business owner knows that the business can afford to invest any money before any transactions go ahead.

The Internet contains a wealth of information and millions of people use it as a resource to find out more on thousands of subjects. Different groups have seen just how useful the Internet is for community based learning and sharing information and are actively engaging in this each day. So how can the Internet be used for this type of information sharing?

1. Internet-based groups, these are like online mini communities that come together using websites on which comments and ideas can be posted. This type of group also tend to use chat rooms and instant messaging to speak to each other. Information can also be posted on to the group’s website and these tend to be updated regularly. Internet-Based groups are so popular that there is literally a group for every kind of topic on which people regular contribute and visit frequently.

2. Community-based learning sites, a slightly different and often involve actual learning. People are able to take online learning courses to further their knowledge on a particular subject. These are very useful for anyone who would like to get back into education but are reluctant, for whatever reason, to attend classroom-based activities. One of the advantages of learning online is that an individual can do as little or as much as they like each time they login and it can be done at any time of the day or night.

3. Social networking sites are also used as a place to share information between people. This could be in the form of messages are photographs and even videos. There are also social networking profiles which are related to businesses or other activities which people can also join and share further information on this topic. Using social networking sites is not an easy it is also a very fast way of communicating with many different people within minutes.

4. Educational institutions also use the Internet to help people to share information and learn. Many people benefit from these types of websites as they are able to access information quickly and easily and can further their learning this way.

5. Business websites are another way in which people can learn and share information although these do relate to particular businesses.

There are of course other ways online which relate to community-based learning and sharing information. If you want to use the Internet for this purpose it is quite easy to do so. Simply go online and do a little research on the subject you are interested in, soon you’ll be able to find Internet-based groups that you can join and information sharing sites. As the majority of these offer free membership you will not have to pay to join and you can start sharing information and start learning almost instantly. If you want to be involved in community-based learning and sharing information go online and see what is out there.

In business there are always going to be ups and downs – but what would happen if the unthinkable happened? To really be able to answer this question it is a good idea to firstly decide what this unthinkable event is – so let’s say that it is severe economic crisis, even more so than the current credit crunch. So how would a business function?

Firstly, a business would need to make sure that they had some sort of strategy in place to be able to weather the economic storm. Without this a business simply would be able to stay afloat. So if you are the owner of a business make sure that you plan for the bad times as well as the good times or you could finds yourself in a very difficult position should the economic climate turn cold.

Secondly, it pays for a business to get the very best deal when it comes to the CRM (customer relationship management) software that it uses. Doing this will help to keep costs low so that should the unthinkable happen the business would still be able to function and not have to lose any software. Too many businesses spend vast amounts of money each year on keeping up costly software licenses and this can run into thousands of pounds, especially if the business has many employees.

Thirdly, a business owner needs to be on top of the businesses cash flow and know exactly what is being spent and where. Having this kind of knowledge will enable a business owner to quickly and accurately identify where money could be saved within the business. If you are a business owner who cannot say that they know exactly where money is spent it is time that you found out. Whilst you are doing this consider giving your business a financial makeover and see if you can highlight any areas where money can be saved or better spent.

Fourth, find which areas of the business are the most profitable and concentrate on those. Doing this will focus attention on more profitable areas of the business which will help to keep money rolling in, something which is crucial during a financial crisis. Forget about any ventures which were on the backburner, they can be looked at when things start to look brighter. Similarly, look at any areas which require a great deal of work and are not very profitable. When they have been identified consider dropping them as they are not working for the business.

No business owner wants to think about the unthinkable – but planning for it is essential as it can sometimes happen. Having strategies and procedures in place to deal with it should it happen is what every business needs. Failure to do this will result in the business folding and folding fast. So if you value your business and want it to survive should the unthinkable happen start to put measures in place to deal with it, should it happen, right now.

During times of crisis it can be difficult for anyone to see anything positive and it is very easy to focus the negatives, particularly when you are in business. When negativity strikes, in the form of a recession, falling sales and so on finding anything to be positive about can be a real struggle. However it is possible to turn negativity into positive action, you just need to know how this can be done effectively.

Turning negativity into positive action is not about ignoring bad times when they occur it is about not letting them decide how things are going to continue in the business for the next 12 months or more. Whilst it can be incredibly hard to find anything to feel positive about when sales have dropped, a business can use this as an opportunity to be positive and think about their sales process, their costings and their CRM solution. It can be easy to panic when sales start to fall (especially during a recession) and this can lead to business owners to think that they soon be out of business – but this is jumping the gun somewhat. Negativity happens in life and in business and it needs to be dealt with without panicking and making hasty decisions.

Instead of seeing falling sales figures as a sign of imminent doom for a business it should instead be a sign for a business to revue their internal processes. When this happens turn the negativity into positive action by finding out the reason behind the falling figures. Many might argue that during a recession there is little point in doing this as the recession is to blame but it there is every chance that this is not the real reason. Sure, a recession will alter customer’s spending patterns and habits – but there could be an underlying reason for the drop in sales. So do a little probing and find out why your customers are not returning to you. You could find that your customer relationship management is letting the business down, or that your sales team are not following up on quotes in a timely manner and losing sales. Perhaps your customers no longer feel engaged with you due to something that the business has done – make use of all the options that are open to your business and find out what is going on.

Negativity will always be an issue in business, but it is up to business owners to decide how to handle it. By remaining calm and finding a way through negative and trying times positive action can occur and this will benefit the business in the long run. So the next time that negativity strikes your business spend some time thinking how this has happened and how it can successfully be avoided in the future. Doing this will help business owners to focus on the processes and practises of their business and will play a large part in turning negativity into positive action.

As the song goes “The times they are a changing” and never more so than in the current economic climate of the UK. Over the past 12 months or so the recession has hit thousands of businesses – both large and small, hard and as a result many have now gone bust. The times are changing and there has been a huge shift from the financially frivolous times of the 1990s and early 2000s to a time where millions are out of work and many cannot even afford to pay their mortgages. During the 1990s spending large amounts of money and actually being prod of this was very much the order of the day. Move forward 15 years and the UK is now experiences a credit crunch and those people who had racked up massive amounts of credit are now feeling the strain.

So, how are the times changing for businesses?

- Businesses are also suffering and many are now feeling the pinch as customers are now looking for cheaper deals on the internet and on the high street.

- Spending money recklessly is not seen as something to aspire to and this is forcing many retailers to drastically rethink their pricing plans.

- Business need to see the value of using good CRM (customer relationship management) software tools. Using such software can make all the difference to businesses that want to make the most out of every single customer contact that they have.

- Businesses need to recognise that they have to engage their customers to keep them returning to them time and time again. It is now no good to just market and sell goods or services, customers need to feel as though their thoughts and ideas are valid for a business and identify with the business. Feedback sections on websites and blogs are really useful for this to happen.

- Businesses now need to focus on new ways of reaching their customers. The internet has virtually limitless potential for businesses and there are plenty of methods that a business can choose to advertise which are diverse and attention grabbing.

- The recession has also taught business owners that nothing lasts forever and it will always pay to have a strategy in place for tough times. This can provide a business with the cushion that they need if the economic climate of their country changes.

- Businesses need to be flexible in their approach to their customers and their means of contacting them. With the advent of freely available mobile technology there is more scope to contact customers through email marketing, SMS messages and social networking sites. Smart businesses take notice of this and move with the times.

- No business can ever afford to rest on its laurels and assume that they will always have a strong customer base. This is foolhardy to say the least and all business owners should be constantly looking for ways in which to improve the service that they provide.

A recession can devastate a country, it leaves people out of work and struggling to make ends meet and it can ruin businesses. Over the past 12 months the UK has seen many large household name businesses go bust and innumerable small to medium sized businesses fold under the strain. Today, anyone talking a walk down a city’s high street cannot fail to notice the sheer number of boarded up shops and empty business space going to waste. Previous to this high streets up and down the country were filled with consumers spending and shops jostling for space.

Now, thanks to the recession the UKs shops and city centres are a very different place – but it is not all doom and gloom. Many businesses have weathered the worst of what the recession had to throw at them and they have come out of the other side. In other words for some businesses the recession has actually made them stronger. So how can the recession make some businesses stronger than before but cause others to buckle and collapse under the economic pressure?

Smart businesses always try to have some kind of contingency plan in place should the worst happen, and sensible business owners knew this. By making small but significant changes businesses could protect themselves for the recession. These could include implementing methods that would save the business money or looking into new ways to retain customers. Doing away with old and outdated methods of customer contact or recording information is one good way of doing this as it saves money and time within the business. Taking notice of customer spending patterns is also useful as this can help a business to predict spending patterns for the next 12 months or so.

Many businesses who are still in business after the recession could be seen in a way as being ‘recession proof’ and while there is no guarantee for this it certainly gives business owners a greater degree of confidence. Customers too gain confidence in businesses that can stay afloat during a recession which is good news for those businesses.

It can be easy to assume that a recession will weaken all businesses – but this is not the case at all. Recessions do change customer spending habits and can make people think more before they spend money – but they do not prevent people from spending money. Consumers still need to buy products and services even during a recession and continue to do so, so businesses should stand their ground and they will reap the rewards. Rather than crumbling at the first sign of economic crisis business owners should implement strategies to help them deal with a recession and see it out to succeed.

Recession does make our businesses stronger, but only if there is a firm base to start with. Having a poor infrastructure will cause a business to fail regardless of a recession. The only difference is a recession sorts the wheat from the chaff and strong businesses will get even stronger.

Today the number of people with internet access in their homes is staggering when compared to even 15 years ago. Mobile communication has meant that even when a person is on the move it is possible to communicate with people all over the world at a fraction of the cost and it is all due to the fact that new technology is becoming cheaper. Desktop computers, laptops, notebooks, mobile phones etc are all getting cheaper by the day and this is increasing the potential for businesses to reach more customers than ever before via the internet and mobile communications.

Traditionally, new technology was only available to those in business or people who were wealthy enough to afford it as it was so costly. Now everyone is basking the glow of the internet at home, at school and even when travelling. With the advent of social networking sites keeping in touch has never been so popular or so easy. In order for people to connect to such sites electronics companies have realised they needed to make new technology cheaper and therefore more accessible for everyone. They realised that doing this would increase their profits tenfold and keep customers wanting the latest technology at low prices.

Gone are the days when only a handful of people had mobile phones and laptop computers, and instead in their place are people of all ages and abilities who are all wanting to have new technology for themselves. This increased demand for new technology means that more items are being sold, so more are being manufactured, bringing down the cost of new technology for the consumer. So now there is no reason why anyone who wants to keep up to date with new technology can’t do so for a very reasonable price.

As well new electrical technology getting cheaper software applications etc are also getting much cheaper as companies can design and implement new technology cheaper and faster than ever before. CRM (customer relationship management) software for instance used to be incredibility expensive for a business to buy and run and now the smart businesses are recognising that many companies are providing this cheaper than ever. To put this into perspective it now means that there is no reason why a small to medium sized business should not benefit from using CRM software to assist them.

Using a good CRM software solution is not only cost effective (especially since new technology is getting cheaper) it can also increase a businesses profits substantially. Making these savings for a business means that new technology can be seen as even cheaper as it can pay for itself in just a few months, rather than being seen as expensive and unattainable. New technology is constantly being developed and as it is now so cheap and so widely available there is no logical reason why consumers and businesses can’t embrace this new technology and enjoy it.

With the credit crunch on everyone’s minds it is no wonder that businesses are developing customer strategies to cope with the downturn. Any business that planned ahead and had a contingency plan for this will no doubt be feeling less of the strain, but for any business who did not have a plan or a strategy here are 10 customer strategies for the downturn:

1.Find out what kind of a return the business is getting from its marketing. Doing this will help to streamline business costs and will prevent customers from feeling the impact of over priced and ineffective marketing.

2.Target pricing – this means looking at your pricing and targeting it more effectively. If your customers can no longer afford your rates (and this will show in your sale figures) it is time to think about carefully targeting your prices

3.Listen to customer feedback – this is always essential for a business but never more so than in a credit crunch, listen to what your customers want and take notice! Do this and it will make all the difference.

4.Be relevant to the correct customers – being too general in your marketing and casting your net too wide can have disastrous effects during a downturn. Businesses who try to do this will find that they rapidly lose revenue and customers in the process by trying to be everything for everyone.

5.Enhance the customer experience – make sure that you are using CRM software that will make every customer contact count and enable a business to get the most out of these every time.

6.Perform a ‘healthcheck’ on your business – see which customers are loyal even during a downturn and give them a little something back. This could be in the way of loyalty discounts, something which customers are always keen to use when money is tight. Remember you want to keep hold of loyal customers and not just the ones that buy from you when you are giving discounts.

7.Increase customer engagement – engaging customers with your brand or business will create loyal customers which is exactly what you are looking for.

8.Take a close look at your loyalty schemes – are they targeting the right customers and are you, as a business getting the most out of them? If not it is time to change your loyalty schemes and raise revenue at the same time.

9.Think about affiliate programmes – these can stand to make customers who know, understand and willing to commit themselves to an affiliate programme a fair amount of money, whilst driving more customers your way. If you don’t already have an affiliate programme maybe it is time to think about one.

10.Keep costs to a minimum so that you are not having to penalise customers by increasing prices – do this by trying to use just one software application to run your business through, such as S3 CRM – the one stop shop for all your business and customer relationship management needs.

2008 was a year that saw many changes all over the world, it was also the year in which the finances of millions of people suddenly thrown into turmoil. All of a sudden the credit driven lifestyles that many people were used to came to an end. Banks and other financial institutions realised that their reckless credit giving had caused thousands to live way beyond their means. This meant that repayments for mortgages, credit cards, loans and hire purchase agreements were suddenly being missed and people who had taken out large mortgages up to 125% were now faced with repossession.

From the late 1980s up until 2008 the feeling in the UK was one of spend, spend, spend on something had to give. In 2008 well-known shops and banks were now in financial crisis thanks to the global credit crunch that was hitting both the UK and the US hard. This meant that people could not afford to lead the lifestyle they have become used to and thousands found themselves out of work as businesses folded or were trying to save money through losing staff.

So what have we learned from 2008?

- Financial institutions giving lenders credit that is way beyond their means is not financially viable and this can plunge a bank, building society or the lender into crisis.

- People should learn to live within their means, even if this can seem as though they are putting their own wings. Getting credit you can’t afford is not the way to live your life and businesses will ultimately suffer as consumers are not able to carry on spending excessively.

- Jobs are not forever - too many people felt safe in the knowledge that they would have their job for life. 2008 show the world that no job is forever and any people who thought that their jobs were safe were soon to find out that this was not the case.

- With so many people out of work and with so many banks collapsing people had to find out how to live more frugally and within their means. For some this was a very difficult process and one which did not come very easily to them, whereas for others this was not a problem and something that came easily.

- Businesses also learned that they needed to look for more cost-effective ways of operating which meant that they could keep their costs low while still providing the same service to their customers.

- Giving potential homeowners mortgages of up to 125% just before house prices crashed was a very poor and miscalculated financial step for many mortgage companies.

2008 showed both businesses and consumers that the previous 15 or so years of reckless and often needless spending and living on credit was not good for the economy or the country. Today people are actively trying to combat the problems that were caused in 2008 that it will take some time before the economy is back on its feet again.

During a recession things get tough for everyone – businesses have to make changes if they are to survive it and come out of the other side intact. Consumer’s behaviour also changes quite significantly during a recession as people don’t have as much disposable income as they previously enjoyed. It is quite easy to think, especially with so many businesses closing down during a recession that it is all doom and gloom, but creativity actually thrives during a recession and many businesses do incredibly well.

It can be too easy to assume that a recession means the end for most small and medium sized businesses (and quite a few larger ones) but it can be an ideal time to start new a business, if you are creative enough. Many businesses are now taking advantage of the fact that people have to tighten their belts and online discount shops are thriving right now. Before the recession excessive spending was seen as something to be proud of and was even akin to a status symbol – paying over the odds for items that could be bought cheaper elsewhere. Now however everyone is looking for a better deal on the goods that they regularly buy and smart entrepreneurs have realised that to thrive in a recession they need to follow consumer trends – which during a recession is saving money.

With this in mind the number of businesses that are providing goods and services at greatly reduced prices are doing fantastically. Price comparison sites are being inundated with customers all looking for the cheapest electrical goods, holidays, insurance, groceries – and more. What business owners need to realise is that even though a recession makes people more aware of what they are spending their money on, they will not stop spending altogether. Consumers still need to buy goods and services; the only difference is that during a recession they will actively shop around for the best deal they can find rather than sticking with their regular retailers.

Creativity is always essential in business, but often it is easy to leave it on the sidelines when business is good, with many business owners not wanting to change their ‘winning formula’. Unfortunately it can be exactly this sort of attitude that leaves many businesses struggling when times change. Recessions force everyone in business to think differently and be more creative otherwise it is virtually impossible to stay afloat. Today those business owners that faced the recession head on are the ones that are reaping the benefits, as are the people who were creative and saw the business potential of the recession. Online there are now hundreds of shops which are selling off bankrupt stock from bigger retailers and there is no shame in looking for cheap products. Creativity really does thrive in a recession and anyone who buys products online can see this for themselves with the smart businesses listening to and taking note of consumer spending habits and altering their prices accordingly.