“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”
This quote from the father of evolution, Charles Darwin, is how the book, Remodeling Your Business for Tough Times: A guide on how small business owners and entrepreneurs can build a ‘crisis proof’ business, starts off.
The book is a much-needed response to the catastrophic impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown on SMEs. Statistics from the #CombatCovid SMME Survey show that 3 out of 4 business owners say they won’t make it past the first of July.
The book’s author, Tebogo Selebi, describes it as a “back to basics” guide on how you can use this time to focus on building a ‘crisis proof’ business.
Selebi is a Senior Associate Partner at TMMBS, a professional services firm offering business development support to enterprises and organisations in the early to middle stages of business development.
Below is an excerpt of Chapter 3 – ‘Sales Strategy (Digital Marketing & E-commerce)’.
How to Sell During a Crisis
Yes, the National Lockdown has had a very negative impact on the sales of your business. But now is not the time you stop selling but in fact, now is the time you start to implement newer and more innovate ways to get business.
Now is the time to implement new sales strategies, I have mentioned below 5 strategies that I believe will definitely have a noticeable effect on your sales during this time and in the future:
1. If you are not selling online, now is the time to start. Product businesses must use the time to establish a strong e commerce store and service businesses must now use this time to ensure that their websites have the functionality that allows online client sign ups.
2. Seek newer opportunities for your business; solve clients’ current problems by creating new products and work on creating relevant services which you can provide during this time.
3. Product businesses must offer free delivery and service businesses must offer free consultations. You would rather lose delivery and consultation costs than lose a valuable client.
4. All businesses must offer discounts to attract more clients, product businesses must sell in bulk.
5. Capitalise on underpriced and easily accessible advertising campaigns by advertising on social media. Almost everybody has one or more social media account and because of Lockdown most people are frequently on their phones going through either YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and/ or LinkedIn, meaning now your clients are more accessible than ever.
The eBook, ‘Remodeling Your Business for Tough Times: A guide on how small business owners and entrepreneurs can build a ‘crisis proof’ business’, is available for download on www.tmmbs.com.
You can connect with Tebogo Selebi on Linkedin here.
