During this health crisis, most businesses can not continue as normal, and should not try to. This is the time to change your business strategy and prepare for the economic downturn.
Stock up
With all of this uncertainty, we should be expecting some supply-chain disturbance “Up to 94% of the Fortune 1000 companies are facing supply chain disruptions due to the current situation“. Make sure your operations stay up and running by preparing for the supply-chain fallout by stocking up on inventory now to protect your bottom line.
Continue networking
Networking is a great way to help those in need, as well as discover new opportunities, customers, and suppliers with minimal cost to your business. Identify businesses you must interact with daily, such as key suppliers, vendors, contractors, banks, and any other and develop a professional relationship with those that serve a critical role in your business. If a vital supplier or vendor shuts down, this can be devastating to your business, so have more than one contact on hand.
Become more efficient
Employees may find it difficult to social distance themselves while working in the field, but it is crucial to minimize close contact with customers. This is possible by taking advantage of field service management software such as Field Complete for client interactions, scheduling appointments, recording customer details, and using digital payments to avoid handling cash.
Develop innovative practices to the changing market conditions, this may include increasing efficiency with technology, or installing a customer management system to reduce costs and make your business more competitive, or this may mean moving your business online. If this is something you are considering, take advantage of free tools like Skype, or paid-for software like Zoom, allowing you to conference call, share presentations, or anything else on your screen.
Have a digital client acquisition strategy in place
The world of word of mouth and local ads is slowly going away. Younger generations want to find service providers online. Having a great online presence is key to having a business in the future. With the excess downtime, right now is the perfect time to plan your digital marketing strategy. Many of our clients have used Blast Sourcing as their digital marketing agency. They are very accomodating to what you need and know the home service market well, let them know you are an FC client to receive up to 50% off.
Diversify your work order sources
We are not in control of circumstances, but we can prepare our business for volatility. We strongly recommend all of our clients to have a diversification of incoming jobs. Companies that rely heavily on one source tend to struggle during market volatility and changes in general. This is why it is important to have:
- Strong local brand presence (branded t-shirts, local outreach, and ads)
- Great online presence (website, retarget ads, ability to take in jobs via a web form)
- Strong homeowner job acquisition channels(These have the highest margin of profit)
- Build relationships with property managers(These have a lower ROI but have a volume of jobs even during economic downturns)
Field complete helps clients achieve all of the following over time, we care about building sustainable businesses, this is why most of our clients are still busy with jobs even during an economic downturn.
