Leading Entrepreneurship

In my post on Strategies for a Tough Economy, I introduced three strategic options for managing the tough waters ahead. In my previous post, I covered growing in a tough economy. In this post, I’d like to cover servicing clients during tough times.

Of the 200+ professionals I spoke with, the top four ideas for servicing existing clients during this period include (keep in mind that these ideas all require existing clients):

1. Be open to renegotiating contracts (but not necessarily lowering prices).
2. Benchmark against your competitors.
3. Build trust. Partner with customers for R&D, develop customer communities or provide broad/narrow casting…. spend some time with them.
4. Reassure. Use customers for references, reviews, testimonials, partnerships and to sell your ROI.

In my next post, I’ll provide the top four ideas for strengthening your existing niche in tough times.