Don’t Let a Tight Economy Make You Stingy About Connecting with Customers

How many times a day do you hear a radio or TV ad with rueful, obvious acknowledgement of the recession? You know, the ones with over-earnest voice-overs that begin something like this: “These days, we’re all cutting back on expenses,” or “Now every dollar has to stretch a little farther”? As true as the message might be, commercials like this continue to amp up the fear factor. The fact is that your customers are nervous about spending money. They’re afraid of becoming one of the tens of thousands who have been losing their jobs every month. If they’ve been laid off, they’re worried that it might be a long time before they see another paycheck.

Where does this put you as a business? Are you caving to the same fear factor of losing money, employees, and customers? Well, snap out of it! The only way to brave a recession is to be brave about it. That means finding inventive ways of (re)connecting with customers. Some of these methods could be free, or as close to it as most things get, and some may require a bold investment on your part. A couple examples of the former:

Company newsletter. Offer customers a way sign up for it on your website and on-location. Send a newsletter every month highlighting new product launches, anniversaries, company, employee, and/or client achievements, and industry news. Newsletters are an inexpensive way to keep in touch with current and prospective customers—and keeping in touch ensures that you’re first on their mind next time they need your product or service.

Customer amenities. It’s the little things that count. Set up a refreshment area in your place of business and offer customers a gourmet cup of coffee (none of that shady airplane stuff!), water, soda, fresh fruit, and/or small packaged snacks. They’ll appreciate the extra thought, especially when most companies are cutting back on extra thoughts.

If you’re a mid-sized to large company, a more dramatic move could pay off. Take Apple, for example, which plans to remodel 100 locations this year to display more products, offer customer training, and better support the overall brand of the company. Not to mention those ubiquitous “There’s an app for that” iPhone commercials. But the result? Consumers trust Apple. They believe it is a growing, prospering company and are more apt to do business with it. If you’re in a position to make improvements within your company, Apple’s lead may be a profitable one to follow.

Bottom line: Like your customers, cut back on extras—the used-twice-a-year golf course membership, perhaps?—but don’t skimp on the things that matter. And in business, connecting with customers is what matters most.

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