I thought it was just me. It isn’t.
How are YOU doing?
As you know, pipelines should always be kept as full as possible. This way you can be sure of a regular income and a profitable future. Salient has been successful for the last 15 years and has been growing steadily. Even the Covid years were reasonably successful.
However, in the last 3 to 4 months I have seen a sharp downturn in business opportunities. The result has been a decreasing flow in the pipeline, sometimes best described as a trickle!
Despite great efforts from my digital marketing team and much networking, matters did not improve. My profile is the highest it has been, but engagement, enquiries and responses are at their lowest level for many years.
To find out why, I created a check list:
1/ Are my communication links still open – ‘phone’, email, mobile, contact forms?
– Checked and confirmed
2/ Have I been posting and engaging with social media?
– Checked and confirmed
3/ Are my products and offers up to date, relevant and meeting current needs?
– Checked and confirmed – interest is still generated; commitment to invest is not
4/ Is it just me?
– Checked….it isn’t!
5/ How is the competition doing?
– Fairly inactive; no business lost to them
Direct action
Direct action became the only option. I am not afraid of being open and honest and often ask my networking contacts, ‘How is business?’. Invariably they appear quite happy. However, this time I told them how quiet the market was for me and the little interest I was generating. I repeated the exercise a couple of days later at another networking group.
The results were very interesting. When pressed, by far the majority admitted to experiencing the same thing, or even worse. Even an IFA confirmed that in the last few months he had had far more fund withdrawals than increased investments!
My strategy for recovery is to ramp up social media activity and attend more, and different events. I am focusing on the two most popular products I have, the 1 to 1 Coaching Day for Micro and SMEs, and the Technical Sales Training for larger businesses. So far, so good.
What’s Next?
Although it is tough at the moment, try not to be too despondent, you are certainly not alone. No one knows how long it will last, but if you can cut costs, raise your profile and meet more prospects, then, come the slow recovery, you will be well placed to begin to grow again.
Whenever you are ready, I will be happy to help you with new ideas for growing your business. Until then, there are many ways of keeping your business going. I am happy to have a chat and offer suggestions for riding the storm.
Good luck!