Managing Through Tough Economic Times

Many say we are in for another 12 - 18 months of difficult economic times. Things were tough enough earlier this summer and it looks like it just keeps on getting worse. There are a number of things you should focus on in your business in order to work through the tough times. In this blog we will discuss spending associated with customer facing activities.

Customer Facing Activities
Evaluate your spending and start cutting back on those that are not customer facing. Any customer facing activity needs to continue until you absolutely have to cut back further. A natural reaction is to cut back on marketing expenses… I have to admit that I have taken this approach in difficult times only to regret it during difficult times and then again when better economic times started to arrive.

Marketing is cumulative and any drastic cuts in marketing communications will take at least twice as long to get back any momentum that you have created. If you have ever started a marketing program, in many cases early months do not yield much in results but as the program continues it seems to snowball. This cumulative effect is lost if you take the tack to going “dark” for a few or many months, so be prepared that it will take a good 6 months to get any momentum back once you start your programs again.

Cutting back on marketing activity also limits your business development efforts. Sales are generated by your sales people, but marketing softens the market and helps drive demand. Cutting back in sales and/or marketing only hurts your ability to stay with your current market.

An Alternative
An alternative to cutting back completely on marketing communications is a good PR program. In my experience, it is the best bang for the buck. It costs a fraction of what advertising costs, and it allows you to craft the message that you want the market to hear. PR provides a great vehicle to offset some higher advertising dollars without going “dark”.

Be prepared, just as advertising takes time to build momentum so does PR. Give it some time and it will help you drive your brand and sales. I recommend using a good outside agency to handle your PR activity. This is what they do and they can help you craft your message and still be a variable cost.

Just because you are going to an “agency” does not mean that you will need to spend big dollars at a large firm. There are a large number of independent contractors that specialize in PR that do a great job and cost a fraction of the big integrated marketing firms.


Spend wisely, focus your efforts and expenses on customer facing activity and it will help you work through the tough economic times.


Larry Turner is CEO of Roundhouse Advisors, Inc. and has over 25 years experience growing, starting up, repositioning, and revitalizing organizations. Roundhouse Advisors is a consulting practice focused on helping businesses increase enterprise value in all stages of company life cycle. For additional information visit www.RoundhouseAdvisors.com