Slow Business? Here’s What You Should You Do

‘Slow and steady wins the race’, so it’s said. But when slow results in a decrease in cash flow; plummeting sales; customers’ sudden disappearance; negative reviews and the likes, then you need to buckle up your belt and add some speed.

It’s not uncommon to find businesses experience slowness once in a while. For instance, a gift company that is most likely to have a peak period during festive seasons such as Christmas, Valentines’ Day, and special occasions will experience a halt in the low season.

It’s just the nature of business. No business goes through the peak season and does not have a taste of the low season.

But you can stay afloat and not have a breakdown when business is slow. These tips will help you make the most of the low season and get you back on track:

Identify the problem

Just like hearing a metallic squeal while you’re in motion is a signal of brake failure, likewise is a slow business an obvious indication that there’s something wrong with the business. A thorough investigation will help in discovering what the problem is. Consider these questions to detect the problems:

• Could it be that you’re yet to identify your target market?
• Do you lack an in-depth understanding of your product enough to convince potential customers?
• Are you aware of whom your competitors are?
• How often do you engage your existing customers?
• Is your social media presence strong enough to attract new customers?
• Are your adverts targeted towards your target audience?

These questions will point you in the right direction towards resolving any issue. 

Reach out to existing customers 

Searching for new customers is important for business growth, but, you should never stop engaging or marketing to your existing customers. Studies show marketing to existing customers is way cheaper than marketing to new customers, which leads to higher overall revenue. Your existing customers are your best customers. Try these tips to engage them and make them remember you:

• Collate customers’ stories: lookout for customers who are willing to share their experiences using your product or service. Ask them for feedback or request they write a review. If they respond positively, you can send a few questions along with your feedback form, this will enable you to gather their stories and present them in an interesting and captivating format. 
• Offer rewards to your request: “What’s in it for me?” The customer might ask, and toss your feedback request aside. Filling a small feedback form or writing a review of fewer than 100 words might seem an easy task that’s doable with 10 minutes, but customers might feel less bothered and uninterested if there’s nothing in it for them. Offer rewards: a discount on their next purchase, a small giveaway (that wouldn’t cost you much), and watch them make more purchases because of the rewards. 
• Send personalised messages: On their birthdays, and special holidays that are dear to them. It’s tasking to compose and send a personalised message to every customer, but you can group them based on preferences, characteristics, location, etc.) and send a group-personalised message to them. You’ll be establishing an emotional connection with your customers and retaining important information about them. 

Don’t forget to always provide great customer service by listening to the concerns of your customers.

Perform a competitive analysis: When business gets slow, you need a competitive analysis to help you identify industry trends and adapt to your competitor’s strategies to enable you to make more informed marketing decisions. You need to understand what your competitors are doing right to make customers choose their products over yours. A competitive analysis is a comparison of your competitors’ strategies used to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different marketing approaches within an industry.

Here’s what your analysis would do for you:

• You’ll be able to study the market from different perspectives and areas.
• An in-depth understanding of your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
• Identify gaps in the market
• Ability to spot market trends
• You’ll gain insights into the development of products and services
• Discover your competitors’ sales processes

Armed with a good analysis, you’ll always be on top of your competition, break into new markets, brainstorm, and launch products/services that meet the needs of consumers. You’ll find your small business catching up to speed and recording successes.

Promote your brand: Round the clock, we would advise. Brand promotion is a key element in bringing the awareness of the benefits of your product or services to your potential and existing customers. It is an effective marketing strategy needed to confirm the business’s credibility in the marketplace; clearly deliver your company’s message; motivate the potential customer to make a purchase; and create customers’ loyalty. Customers forget businesses they don’t hear about often, and as a result, cause slowness in the business. Step up your promotion.

Remember that the first step to solving the issue of slowness in your business is by recognising the problems. Once, you are able to do that, you can implement the above suggestions and get your business right back on track. It is noteworthy to know that slow seasons are inevitable, however, you can make the most of the period and ensure your business does not run down.

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Featured image: istockphoto