Every recession is unique, but at the same time, every downturn results in the same outcome: some companies emerge winners, while others fall under the guillotine of a lagging economy. With even Wal-Mart’s growth flat-lining, many CEOs are wondering if they can do anything besides frantically cut costs and grit their teeth through this jobless recovery. Unfortunately, customer engagement program budgets are often among the first to fall under the knife as companies make cuts to stay afloat during tough times. Savvy company leaders know that slashing budgets without maintaining a strong customer engagement strategy can send loyal customers fleeing to competitors. In this article, we’ll focus on how Voice of the Customer programs can help companies identify crucial trends and develop successful tactics to see them through the most difficult economic times. By preserving and extending your Customer Engagement program throughout the recession, companies can survive the downturn and be in a good position to thrive once the upturn takes hold.
Posts Tagged ‘Recession’
Customer Engagement in a Down Economy: How to Survive Today and Thrive Tomorrow
Thursday, April 7th, 2011Creating a Customer-Centric Organization
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Is your organization customer-focused? This is a useful question anytime, but the recession of the last year has made your answer crucial. As the economy turns around, customer-centric organizations will be best equipped to take advantage of growing consumer confidence, as they will have the best understanding of the needs and wants of their audience. As Inc. magazine reported back in September, a few companies are actually growing in the recession. Some are forming new partnerships. Others are taking advantage of the talent in the marketplace and building a more effective workforce. In this post, we’ll focus on a third route to recession success: developing new services that customers really want. For instance, a dry-cleaning company featured in the Inc. article is developing an online service to allow its customers to track when their dry cleaning order is ready.
How to Build Employee Resilience, Even in a Recession
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Employee resilience has never been more relevant. Resilient employees are key to your organization anytime, but they are especially valuable in today’s depressed market.