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As we enter into a new year, we all should be empowered to create new profit-generating opportunities for our businesses during the current tough economic challenges. Even amid more company closings and bankruptcy filings, the continuing stock market instability, cuts in Small Business Association and bank loans, the new year gives business owners and entrepreneurs an opportunity to turn the page on 2008 and look forward with anticipation of a new way of thinking. To keep your overall business and operational finances in the black, enhance tried and true strategies and seek out creative strategies for making your fiscal business year profitable. To get started, here are four strategies for finding profit-making opportunities for 2009. 1. Provide and Maintain Exceptional Customer Service Great customer service is a drum that really can’t be beaten loudly enough. Without customers or clients—the core of our business—we are out of business. Repeat and referral business will grow your company. If your clients adore you, not only will they keep coming back, they’ll gladly send everyone they know your way. The one-to-one interaction required to provide consistent, exceptional customer service can be as simple as tried and true relationships builders such as touching base with your customers by phone or writing a note of thanks for their business to show genuine appreciation. You might also offer them other services and products that fill future needs. 2. Provide Customer Education and Information While many customers are self-sufficient in knowing your products or services, always seek opportunities to expand on their knowledge. Inform them about what you can offer in products and services to enhance what they may currently have. Keep in mind that stepping out as a subject matter expert does not always mean you will get an immediate return for your efforts. But knowledge is power and an educated customer intangibly benefits your business because an informed customer is an empowered customer. 3. Follow the Big Money Don’t leave your clients with smaller projects hanging, but do aggressively pursue those business opportunities and projects that produce a higher return in overall profits. Fortunately, some business owners may have clients who aren’t terribly put out even when the market tanks. Thus, it makes good business sense to cater to the customers who have the money and financial resources to timely pay you for your services. Projects that are larger in size and dollar value have challenges of their own, but tackling them with efficiency and professionalism means that big-dollar projects can deliver bigger profits, if you’re up for the job. 4. Tackle New Markets For most business owners, time is money and it is essential to use best practices for the limited time management you may have in daily operations. Because the business economy still has challenges, sitting and waiting for the phone to ring is not good time management. Tough times require new solutions, which may require using your products and services to expand or launch into new opportunities and new markets of services. For example, a Dallas, Texas-based Information Technology Consultant whose primary business focus is the design and development of websites for small-business owners and faith-based organizations saw an opportunity to move into an additional business service area with his new and current clients. The opportunity was to provide marketing and public relations services to these same clients with whom he already had a relationship. The consultant can now also provide the necessary marketing and PR strategies that complement his clients’ online strategies. The risk and expansion has paid off, increasing his company’s bottom-line by 25% in 2008. Final Comments Things are tough all over. Fortunately, tough times don’t last, but tough people do. Even though the economic forecast is gloomy, there is no guarantee that you will be a victim of the recession. While there are many economic factors beyond your control, there are still plenty of operational and financial controls within your influence. The bottom-line is nothing lasts forever. The current economic trouble will pass, but you can implement profit-building strategies to keep your business in the black for 2009 and beyond. © 2009 Proverbs Consulting – All Rights Reserved CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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