Tactics for Tough Times – Great Ideas from the Tough Times Handbook

When times are tough and turbulent, the world economy is volatile and bordering on recession – you need to hussle to grow your business. The good news is that people are still buying and there are plenty of opportunities if you look for them.

Having the right growth mindset – a positive attitude and useful beliefs is the key to success! Fortunes can be made or lost in a downturn or business recession, as there are many opportunities for the innovative and motivated. Many tired old business owners just decide to give up and retire when there is a downturn – leaving more customers for others.

Just after the recession in 1988, I was helping lots of businesses that were in trouble. Sales had slumped and everybody was depressed. The solution was to shift their mindset, increase their resilience and focus on the things that WERE working. Celebrating any win or any success – no matter how small. Focussing on the right activities more than right results.

Stop comparing yourself to your past sales results made in easier times.

Make the most of what you already have – every enquiry, every customer, every web visitor, every sale and every staff member.

Be a better leader in these down times. Here are some of my favourite mantras to repeat for turbulent and tough times:

• “You can outsell a recession or downturn”
• “In good times grow profit and in tough times grow market share”
• “You can’t CUT your way to success. Don’t sack your best people – do everything possible to retain the loyal performers”
• “People think good times last forever (they don’t) and bad times last forever (they don’t)”
• “Economic and business growth comes in waves and cycles – enjoy the ride of ups and downs”
• “Always have a plan B – When the economy is up, prepare for a down swing”

Once you have sorted out your own mindset and engaged your team, this book by UK Consultant Nicholas Bate is full of practical ideas for Tough Times.

176 simple things you can implement. GO DO IT!

BOOK SUMMARY OF TOUGH TIMES HANDBOOK by Nicholas Bate UK

1. FOCUS ON THE MONEY

• Educate everybody about price and margin  – explain to your team how money works and show the split of $100
• Do you really need all those deals and specials?
• Review your Terms and Conditions
• Chase money at every stage – make sure you get paid (not paying money = stop work)
• Talk to your bank – early and often
• Treat your suppliers with respect
• Manage your costs wisely
• Stop waste, theft, and spoilage
• Access extra funds
• Don’t be silly
• Ask for money-saving and money-making ideas
• Use students
• Use the Internet and AI

2. GET THE KNOWLEDGE & FACTS

• Knowledge is power – find out!
• Know your money facts
• Know your strategy and plans
• Know about your customers
• Know what motivates your team
• Know all about your market
• Know all about the economy
• Know who is responsible and accountable for things

3. MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS

• Start making clear, visible decisions
• Make decisions for the future
• Make good tough decisions by taking time out
• Make some tough decisions on where the money is coming from
• Combine the best of logic and emotional intuition
• Do the best for your people whether they go or stay
• Make good tough decisions by talking to others and building a support network
• Make tough decisions about your previous vanity ego foibles and mistakes
• Create your decision checklist and make tough decisions throughout the business
• A decision is not a decision until it is an action take action
• A complex tough decision is not a decision and until it is turned into a plan
• Create triggers to enable tough decision making and keep it simple

4. ENGAGE YOUR PEOPLE

• Communicate more with your team and tell it straight at least once a month
• Educate everybody and ask your team leaders to roll that process out to everyone else
• Motivate all your people by addressing the basics and supporting their dreams
• Keep training your people
• Build on training with more coaching
• Ask everyone to be brilliant at the basics and get the basics right
• Get them to be team players and encourage differences to be managed rather than resented
• Watch your stress levels-  there is life beyond work – enjoy it
• Celebrate success note achievements and reward appropriately
• Recruit on knowledge skills and attitude and become better at recruiting

5. GET SELLING

• Start selling again and focus on it strategically and tactically turning prospects into customers into clients into accounts into advocates
• Find out what differentiates you and what’s special about your company your value
• Set your sales goals very carefully and target what you really want which is generally profitable sales
• Don’t talk price – always talk value
• Don’t waste time only spend time your time talking with qualified people
• Ask for the business –  ask ask ask and keep asking for the business
• Don’t worry about customer concerns worry about problems it’s a sign the person is serious
• You can’t sell unless you know what they want – ask the right sort of questions at the right time
• Have loads of potential business – more potential business than you can handle
• Reach out and learn how to make cold calls they might not be fun but the business from them is fun
• Learn how to negotiate better – this counting is not selling nor is it negotiation – learn both
• Learn more about selling and learn lots more about selling
• Love your accounts and love your customers

6. IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING EFFORT

• Start marketing again and focus on your core marketing principles
• Run an off-site meeting to plan your strategy and invest in your success
• Do a SWOT analysis and analyze your product results
• Get a pricing strategy
• Review your marketing channels – how do you sell to your customers
• Seek more accountability for your marketing and promotional spends
• Create a strategic plan and review dates, create a technical plan or action list, and practical task lists
• Remember that marketing isn’t just campaigns, it’s the thinking, understandin,g and strategy done really well
• Budget your marketing communication,s get quality work from budget sources for a win-win
• Get an expert’s view of your strategic thinking
• Learn to love marketing, it’s really, really useful to grow your business

7. GET BACK TO BASICS

• Are you brilliant at the basics – identify the basic standards for your company and get really good
• Promote what you do all the time every time – get the basics of self promotion happening
• Get the basics of money management right
• Get your website sorted and updated be resourceful and maintain a positive appearance
• What can you outsource and reinvent
• Start a blog that displays your personality to the world
• Take ownership – less use of they, more use of we
• Look after yourself and be the best version of you

8. COMMUNICATE MORE IN TOUGH TIMES

• Improve the quality of your communication which will affect your success in turbulent times
• Keep everybody informed with good communication
• Invest in relationships and develop trust
• Be assertive with your communication
• A great presentation is not just a PowerPoint slide deck – connect – don’t just present slides
• Tell stories – become a better storyteller
• Keep your communication real and simple
• Leadership is a decision- to start today to be a better leader use excellent communication to get the best from being different

9. LOOK FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES IN TOUGH TIMES

• Think – how I can I get the best out of this opportunity – every crisis has opportunities
• Focus on what is really important to you
• Take the opportunity to change what the company is doing
• Think big and decide to grow – do you want profit revenue market share prestige
• What are you good at and make that your main thing
• Spot and develop new talent there’ll be more available
• Take the chance to be upfront with those who are not performing
• Take the opportunity to freshen up and tidy up as superficial changes can make a real difference
• Get a handle on the niggling costs and distractions and get rid of them review your expenditure
• Be radical – decide to be bold in turbulent times

10. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR TIME

• Understand time and what’s important and what’s not
• Invest in future success but schedule your time
• Stay focused, avoid distractions and stick to the plan run better meetings, make your meetings more efficient and targeted
• Practice Kaizen plan, do and review
• Don’t just react make a choice and choose wisely
• Choose by ROI rather than the level of crisis
• Get good at project management – break down tasks into manageable chunks and assign ownership
• Identify and reduce distractions – focus on the vital few not the trivial many
• Use time to make you smarter – do less but achieve more

11. YOU CAN STILL HAVE SOME FUN

• Take fun seriously – think, expect, and create more fun
• Fun is valuing everyone for their contribution – value everyone, allow everyone to contribute, and have their bit of fun
• Fun is the occasional budget treat
• Fun is your family and friends- be present and switch off work
• Fun is a stand-up spot at the monthly meeting – let them leave feeling really good
• Fun doesn’t need to cost a lot of money
• Fun is inclusive and abundant
• Fun is even more powerful when it is an old-fashioned surprise
• Fun is an excuse to celebrate special occasions, and birthdays and remember individuals
• Fun keeps your team healthy and in a good mood
• Fun is celebrating success- reward the behaviors you want
• Fun is a state of mind – keep your perspective it’s only work

12. BE CREATIVE & INNOVATIVE

• Yes you are creative – fire up your creativity in tough times
• Ask provocative questions to break the status quo
• Accelerate creativity with brainstorming but do it properly
• Accelerate creativity by using an established methodology like the six hats
• Accelerate creativity by data deprivation – stay away from bad news and the media
• Accelerate creativity by rewarding it – reward great ideas
• Accelerate creativity by change -shake up their environment
• Accelerate creativity by getting out of the office- change their scene
• Accelerate creativity by asking- ask better questions to boost your ideas bank
• Accelerate creativity by doing something with their ideas – take action and give feedback
• Innovation equals creativity plus action – do both

13. BUILD YOUR PROCESSES & SYSTEMS

• Find your geeky process people and look into the fine details and improve your processes
• Define your essential processes and systems and ensure your current ones are working
• Develop a sales process – start prospect reviews immediately
• Standardise your quotes and proposals to speed things up
• Have a clear price list and update the price list regularly and ensure any discounting policies are understood
• Have a system for following up all business inquiries and quotes
• Have a system for celebrating success – announce any wins good deals and achieve revenue targets
• Have a Marketing system and a marketing calendar for planning
• Create a marketing manual
• Make it easier to suggest ideas and improve things – make it easier to complain too
• Develop invoicing systems to chase the money you are owed
• Develop a staff handbook as a priority
• Develop a system for securing your IT
• Work out how you would beat the system in finance security or resources and then prevent that from happening
• Think about better systems – think Kaizen continuous improvement

14. WORK ON YOUR MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP SKILLS

• Perception is reality
• Be around – manage by wandering around (MBWA) – get closer to the staff and customers
• Remove barriers between people
• In turbulent times you need to LEAD now more than ever before – be a better leader
• Be a better people manager- team meetings, coaching, focus,
• Catch people doing things right and give better feedback
• Run many training sessions
• Keep close to processes to find ways to improve
• Empower people – give them smart objectives, train them coach them and motivate them
• Grow your people through challenge not comfort

15. INVEST FOR SUCCESS

• Invest or die
• Invest in people – sort out the basics of wellbeing in your workplace
• Invest in people – develop and touch them
• Motivate people – find out what makes them tick
• Invest in better equipment that is essential to the business – maintain and update it
• Invest in technology and better systems to save
• Invest in your channels – how else could you access more business
• Invest in your suppliers and keep talking to them stay close meet and return their calls
• Invest in your clients – raise your standards and be amazing with your service
• Invest in your image – update your website newsletter and first impressions
• Invest in you – stay healthy get quality sleep stay fit be creative

16. TALK IS CHEAP – TAKE ACTION NOW!

• Just do it- less chat, more action
• Make a new rule – get everybody to follow one simple rule – avoid talking negatively about someone when they’re not present
• Break up the open plan office
• Define the team purpose and give the bigger picture of the purpose for what we’re doing
• Gives clear, small and manageable goals to each person, provides clear daily and weekly task lists for everyone
• It’s a decision, not a job title – your value to the company is based on actions, not job title
• Have daily action meetings – roll out your daily briefing
• Project plans – get trained in project management
• Raise standards and become remarkable
• Don’t be too nice be firm and assertive but not too nasty
• Celebrate any success – catch the most positive of business behaviors, being successful –

17. RELAX!

Reasons why you can relax

• You know about your money
• You stay fit
• Make tough decisions – invest in a white board and focus on tasks at hand
• Break old patterns and assumptions
• Act successful – be resourceful not arrogant – be upbeat not deluded
• Think a lot more
• Make more use of local colleges and universities
• Plan more and take action
• Use your network and build your network
• Do more stuff – helping, congratulating and leading by example
• Take a regular walk to put things in perspective
• Be more creative
• Times are tough – be clear what you need to do
• Be hands on and lead by example
• Book an upcoming break or holiday and always be looking forward to your next holiday

Start using AI / ChatGPT to brainstorm your ideas and find someone else to help – get a VA!

As you can see, there is LOTS to do, movement makes motivation, so let’s get started.