ConferenceSuite's Top 3 Ways To Stay In Business In A Recession

With the economy continuing to roil, we've officially entered the second year of a deepening recession. Newspaper headlines are filled with sobering tales of perishing companies battered by lagging consumer confidence and tightening credit markets. How will your business survive?

Here are our top 3 strategies for surviving and thriving during the recession.

#1 - Make An Extraordinary Offer To Attract New Customers

In November of 2008, Frank Mancari, owner of an Oak Lawn, Illinois car dealership, was desperate. With gas prices soaring, he needed a way to move his fleet of large Chrysler Pacificas. Mancari devised a crazy plan to get people to visit his lot: if they bought a Pacifica, they'd receive a 2008 PT Cruiser for $1.

He's not alone. In Escondido, California, Michael Crews Development offered $400,000, 2,000-square foot homes for free when customers purchased a home in San Pasqual Valley for $1.6 million.

Thriving in a recession often means doing the unthinkable to generate business. For example, we're giving new customers spending $400/month or more in conferencing up to $250 in cash bonuses when they sign up for our services before February 27, 2009. Other companies are reining in their marketing budgets. That's the wrong approach in an economy where customers have less reason to make a purchase right now. Everyone is trying to win the sale – and only those companies that stand out will succeed.

#2 - Help Your Existing Customers Weather The Soft Economy

Business owners are concerned about the immediate future. Their access to capital has been severely limited during the past year and they need to conserve cash flow. Rather than watching your existing customers struggle, find a way to provide them a little economic relief.

Last year, a conferencing provider contacted their customers and gave them a nice surprise: the provider would waive account and usage fees during the last two months of the year. Compared to the recent federal bailouts, that offer may seem insignificant. But, it created enormous goodwill and launched a buzz that spread virally.

#3 - Plan Productive Conference Calls

Everyone is trying to save money during the recession, but one of their most valuable resources is slipping through their fingers: time. Most meetings and conference calls waste enormous amounts of time because they're not well planned. Every minute spent in a meeting is a minute that cannot be billed; it's a minute that is taken away from interacting with customers.
Conference calls are a great way to maximize productivity, but they must be structured.

Tips For Maximizing Your Conference Call Productivity

Patrick Lencioni, author of "Death By Meeting," suggests that meetings should be interactive rather than passive, and must be structured around tactical and strategic objectives. Along those lines, here are a few tips for improving the productivity of your conference calls:

Create an itemized agenda. It should clearly detail when you need certain people to participate. That way, they can connect to the call when they're needed rather than wasting time.

Limit your invitation list. The more participants who are on your conference call, the greater the likelihood for delays. Plus, by not inviting people who don't need to attend, you effectively free up their time for other projects.

Limit the length of your conference call. People get bored and their attention wanes. If you need 2 hours of time to cover your agenda, split it between 2 60-minute calls.
Create the meeting rules and stick to them. You must manage your conference calls according to the rules you establish beforehand. That's the only way to maintain productivity.

The current recession creates an economic challenge for all of us. Now is the time to review your marketing efforts to new and existing customers. You should also do everything you can to retain your most valuable asset: your employees. When the economy starts to gain steam again, you'll be able to hit the ground running.

Businesses worldwide confidently rely on ConferenceSuite to deliver the best audio, web and video conferencing services at the best rates. For more information, visit http://www.conferencesuite.com