We’re delighted to announce that Richard Kadri-Langford has today joined the Digity Team to help existing and new clients to push forward through the challenging climate, recover and build for years to come. Rich is a very experienced, passionate and results orientated marketer, working for brands such as Chancellors, England Rugby Hospitality and others. He’s very analytical and saw the challenges that many businesses are facing right now (many with opportunities too though!) and wanted to help so we’re delighted to add him to our team to do just that.
If you’d like to find out how Richard and all the team can help your business compete, book a call to discuss the options and all the bright ideas we will have for you.
If you’d like to find out how Richard and all the team can help your business compete, book a call to discuss the options and all the bright ideas we will have for you.
I ‘m going to completely avoid any comment on the health issues, that’s not my skill-set or role but it’s clearly a worrying time. More concerning for us all as business leaders, it’s a time with immediate, short and long-term impact for each of our businesses so at Digity we’ve been working on Operation Lime which is an assessment of what we can do to help each client to a) minimise the economic impact b) find new opportunities c) strengthen your business long-term.
So for what it’s worth and as someone who started a business at the end of the last recession to help businesses build back up, I’ve got some experience in this area and views on what we all need to do.
1. Keep positive
I can’t reinforce this enough. If you let your head drop it will have a domino effect. If you get too worried and act too quickly it can come across as desperation and weakness. Whatever is going on outside your control, this is one thing you have to control. Leave the honest, direct discussions for your accountant/finance team and business advisers/fellow directors – your staff, suppliers and customers will not respond well to speculation right now.
Those who are confident and talking about the future well beyond the next few months will be the ones that standout. If you sell things that take months to deliver and require input from the client, the current circumstances could help you to at least get through everything you have on right now. Once this situation has passed, the decision time will likely be faster and therefore if you’ve got an active pipeline you will recover faster than those trying to start from scratch. Savvy people with money know when to buy and they will be out there, the question is whether you are.
2. Use the time well
If you find yourself with unexpected time, use it to plan and do things today that will help tomorrow. Websites , ideas for campaigns , assessing the competition, looking for new products/services, thinking about your business plan in general etc. Don’t let this impact your long term prospects.
3. The one stat I can predict
I don’t know how your sales are going to look in the next month or your cash position BUT I do know that more people than ever are going to be online. I also predict they are going to get VERY VERY bored and as bad as this situation is for many, there will still be a lot of people who are still in work, relatively secure and potentially naive about the extent of the situation. In the consumer market they will be looking around for what to buy to alleviate that boredom or at the very least, feeling like they’ve got more time than ever before to consider their next purchase. We therefore expect a lot of people to enter the research stage for new products/services and therefore you have got to be there to be seen.
4. Be there to be seen
If you’ve been in a sales mindset for a while, I don’t want you to lose focus on that but I do want you to focus on how you are attracting and then nurturing sales which might take longer than usual now to close. You therefore need to be there to be seen a) when people are looking for you so think about your advertising budget for Google b) inspiring relevant people so think about advertising budget for social media – as there’s going to be plenty of people on Facebook and LinkedIn over the coming weeks that’s for sure and c) targeting the people you want to talk to. You probably have a phone/email account/address book/CRM with details of lots of people you could and should talk to. The world hasn’t stopped turning, pick up the phone and make the calls which are either directly pursuing business or building relationships which can generate referrals.
5. Open your doors wider than ever
By this I mean look at ways to extend your opening hours/days and how you communicate with people. If your sales scenario involves meeting people, push the phone and even video call scenario. Get it on the website, push it out via email, blogs, social posts and any other way possible. If you’re not using video calling check out www.zoom.us – it’s a good system, we use it a fair bit and it’s free for calls up to 40 mins. Worth a look.
6. Think about your supply chain & what you’re marketing focuses on
This goes beyond marketing but it’s something you have to think about hard because you need to focus on marketing the products/services you can deliver. If you’re importing for example, you need to factor in the fact that you could be looking at extended lead times for many items – so what can you focus on now that you can definitely fulfil (and that may change in the coming weeks/months so have a plan).
7. Don’t get tired of banging your own drum
There are so many social media posts out at the moment which, going back to point 1, smack of desperation. I get why but there’s so much noise, don’t become part of it. Think hard about what makes your business, team and offering special and make sure people remember that. Going back to point 2, people are looking for inspiration and distraction. I’m not going to be inspired by any posts I see that have the words Coronavirus or COVID-19 in them directly but if I see a company reminding me they manufacture/build right here in the UK and that supply won’t be affected then that might make me sit up and pay attention. Equally if I see that I can video call someone to find out more and progress the discussion, I’m going to be open to that given I’m no longer seeing people day-to-day. Think about your audience, think about your customers and why they love you and get focused on sharing that spirit with the world.
8. Look for new opportunities
There’s lots of talk about all the ‘disruption’ and I understand why but it’s a negative, scary word. Focus on the word ‘change’ instead and get your mind in gear to adapt. What are your customers going to be buying or valuing right now – how can you help them and what else in the world are people going to be buying from you in the short term. Get creative, be relevant and look sharp.
9. Act Fast
I wrote this point in respect of your business rather than your marketing. Although the situation is pressing, it’s worth taking a breath before rushing in to new marketing initiatives but you certainly should now more than ever before. What I really mean here with point 8 is in regards to your business; your finances, your team etc. I’m sure your finance people are advising you about what to look at in terms of reducing overheads and managing staff but get good people around you and if you need to make tough decisions, make them ASAP to move forward. For some businesses, asking teams to take holiday during this period makes sense as if there’s a lack of immediate work, let them use this period to take a break and be available when things pick up again and you need them most. I thought that was a good tip and there will be others which I’ll share separately via another format later in the week.
10. Look after yourselves
Not marketing related at all but a simple message to say it’s important to keep talking to those around you and if we can help at Digity, get in touch. There’s a much bigger picture to consider here and although I can’t give you an end date for any of this, it’s going to test us all and make us stronger so let’s embrace the challenge in front of us and get to work.
I wish you, your families and team the best of health and get your game plans ready.
And if you’re wondering why we’ve called it Operation Lime, it’s because if you’ve ever drank a Corona beer, you’ll know Lime is a popular way to make it better!
To see how we can help you compete for days, weeks and years to come, book a FREE consultation call today.
So for what it’s worth and as someone who started a business at the end of the last recession to help businesses build back up, I’ve got some experience in this area and views on what we all need to do.
1. Keep positive
I can’t reinforce this enough. If you let your head drop it will have a domino effect. If you get too worried and act too quickly it can come across as desperation and weakness. Whatever is going on outside your control, this is one thing you have to control. Leave the honest, direct discussions for your accountant/finance team and business advisers/fellow directors – your staff, suppliers and customers will not respond well to speculation right now.
Those who are confident and talking about the future well beyond the next few months will be the ones that standout. If you sell things that take months to deliver and require input from the client, the current circumstances could help you to at least get through everything you have on right now. Once this situation has passed, the decision time will likely be faster and therefore if you’ve got an active pipeline you will recover faster than those trying to start from scratch. Savvy people with money know when to buy and they will be out there, the question is whether you are.
2. Use the time well
If you find yourself with unexpected time, use it to plan and do things today that will help tomorrow. Websites , ideas for campaigns , assessing the competition, looking for new products/services, thinking about your business plan in general etc. Don’t let this impact your long term prospects.
3. The one stat I can predict
I don’t know how your sales are going to look in the next month or your cash position BUT I do know that more people than ever are going to be online. I also predict they are going to get VERY VERY bored and as bad as this situation is for many, there will still be a lot of people who are still in work, relatively secure and potentially naive about the extent of the situation. In the consumer market they will be looking around for what to buy to alleviate that boredom or at the very least, feeling like they’ve got more time than ever before to consider their next purchase. We therefore expect a lot of people to enter the research stage for new products/services and therefore you have got to be there to be seen.
4. Be there to be seen
If you’ve been in a sales mindset for a while, I don’t want you to lose focus on that but I do want you to focus on how you are attracting and then nurturing sales which might take longer than usual now to close. You therefore need to be there to be seen a) when people are looking for you so think about your advertising budget for Google b) inspiring relevant people so think about advertising budget for social media – as there’s going to be plenty of people on Facebook and LinkedIn over the coming weeks that’s for sure and c) targeting the people you want to talk to. You probably have a phone/email account/address book/CRM with details of lots of people you could and should talk to. The world hasn’t stopped turning, pick up the phone and make the calls which are either directly pursuing business or building relationships which can generate referrals.
5. Open your doors wider than ever
By this I mean look at ways to extend your opening hours/days and how you communicate with people. If your sales scenario involves meeting people, push the phone and even video call scenario. Get it on the website, push it out via email, blogs, social posts and any other way possible. If you’re not using video calling check out www.zoom.us – it’s a good system, we use it a fair bit and it’s free for calls up to 40 mins. Worth a look.
6. Think about your supply chain & what you’re marketing focuses on
This goes beyond marketing but it’s something you have to think about hard because you need to focus on marketing the products/services you can deliver. If you’re importing for example, you need to factor in the fact that you could be looking at extended lead times for many items – so what can you focus on now that you can definitely fulfil (and that may change in the coming weeks/months so have a plan).
7. Don’t get tired of banging your own drum
There are so many social media posts out at the moment which, going back to point 1, smack of desperation. I get why but there’s so much noise, don’t become part of it. Think hard about what makes your business, team and offering special and make sure people remember that. Going back to point 2, people are looking for inspiration and distraction. I’m not going to be inspired by any posts I see that have the words Coronavirus or COVID-19 in them directly but if I see a company reminding me they manufacture/build right here in the UK and that supply won’t be affected then that might make me sit up and pay attention. Equally if I see that I can video call someone to find out more and progress the discussion, I’m going to be open to that given I’m no longer seeing people day-to-day. Think about your audience, think about your customers and why they love you and get focused on sharing that spirit with the world.
8. Look for new opportunities
There’s lots of talk about all the ‘disruption’ and I understand why but it’s a negative, scary word. Focus on the word ‘change’ instead and get your mind in gear to adapt. What are your customers going to be buying or valuing right now – how can you help them and what else in the world are people going to be buying from you in the short term. Get creative, be relevant and look sharp.
9. Act Fast
I wrote this point in respect of your business rather than your marketing. Although the situation is pressing, it’s worth taking a breath before rushing in to new marketing initiatives but you certainly should now more than ever before. What I really mean here with point 8 is in regards to your business; your finances, your team etc. I’m sure your finance people are advising you about what to look at in terms of reducing overheads and managing staff but get good people around you and if you need to make tough decisions, make them ASAP to move forward. For some businesses, asking teams to take holiday during this period makes sense as if there’s a lack of immediate work, let them use this period to take a break and be available when things pick up again and you need them most. I thought that was a good tip and there will be others which I’ll share separately via another format later in the week.
10. Look after yourselves
Not marketing related at all but a simple message to say it’s important to keep talking to those around you and if we can help at Digity, get in touch. There’s a much bigger picture to consider here and although I can’t give you an end date for any of this, it’s going to test us all and make us stronger so let’s embrace the challenge in front of us and get to work.
I wish you, your families and team the best of health and get your game plans ready.
And if you’re wondering why we’ve called it Operation Lime, it’s because if you’ve ever drank a Corona beer, you’ll know Lime is a popular way to make it better!
To see how we can help you compete for days, weeks and years to come, book a FREE consultation call today.
There is no denying that the recent COVID-19 outbreak has shaken the world. At times such as these where we must act without precedence, it is important to ensure everything we do is based on the best advice and guidelines available – whether it be surrounding health and safety, or how to keep your business running as usual.
Health and safety we will leave to the professionals, but we can say that the digital marketplace is going to become even more prevalent in the coming weeks. With isolation and social distancing measures coming into effect, it is more important than ever that you take care of your online presence as your physical presence is perhaps put on hold. Now is not the time to do nothing – now is the time to grow your online marketing as much as possible, so you can be as visible as ever.
We are here to help. We know that the coming weeks will be difficult for many businesses, and many may feel they don’t have the resources to put into marketing right now. We can help you to find a solution which suits you – just remember that marketing could be your biggest asset at this time.
As for us at Digity, we have closely monitored all of the latest recommendations and decided to cease face-to-face contact in all aspects of our business. The safety and well-being of both our team and our clients is of utmost importance to us, so we have determined that the path of caution is most suitable.
However, it is otherwise business as usual!
We will be conducting video or phone calls in place of meetings or consultations, because it is incredibly important to us that our communication with our clients is regular and thorough at this time. We want our clients to feel supported, so feel free to contact us with any queries you have at this time.
Things will need to change, for all of us. Business as usual is not quite business as usual, because many consumer habits will be shifting in the coming weeks. Many already have. This needn’t be a negative, however. Now is the time to look at your business and take it from strength to strength, make it into a faster, leaner, stronger version of itself. We are here to help.
We wish you the best of health and encourage you to contact us with any questions or enquiries you might have. We have a wide range of contact options (remember, visiting our office is temporarily on the substitute bench right now!) so please take a look on our contact page to see which option suits you.
Health and safety we will leave to the professionals, but we can say that the digital marketplace is going to become even more prevalent in the coming weeks. With isolation and social distancing measures coming into effect, it is more important than ever that you take care of your online presence as your physical presence is perhaps put on hold. Now is not the time to do nothing – now is the time to grow your online marketing as much as possible, so you can be as visible as ever.
We are here to help. We know that the coming weeks will be difficult for many businesses, and many may feel they don’t have the resources to put into marketing right now. We can help you to find a solution which suits you – just remember that marketing could be your biggest asset at this time.
As for us at Digity, we have closely monitored all of the latest recommendations and decided to cease face-to-face contact in all aspects of our business. The safety and well-being of both our team and our clients is of utmost importance to us, so we have determined that the path of caution is most suitable.
However, it is otherwise business as usual!
We will be conducting video or phone calls in place of meetings or consultations, because it is incredibly important to us that our communication with our clients is regular and thorough at this time. We want our clients to feel supported, so feel free to contact us with any queries you have at this time.
Things will need to change, for all of us. Business as usual is not quite business as usual, because many consumer habits will be shifting in the coming weeks. Many already have. This needn’t be a negative, however. Now is the time to look at your business and take it from strength to strength, make it into a faster, leaner, stronger version of itself. We are here to help.
We wish you the best of health and encourage you to contact us with any questions or enquiries you might have. We have a wide range of contact options (remember, visiting our office is temporarily on the substitute bench right now!) so please take a look on our contact page to see which option suits you.