Context
ABC Company provides specialty products and services. Like most small to mid-sized companies, it's fighting to stay afloat. In spite of the economy, it’s managed to generate sufficient revenue to break even or make a small profit eight of the past nine months. During one month, however, the losses were so huge they wiped out any gains. This quarter, two months will likely break even, but the third will show a loss.
It would be easy to assume the CEO has been asleep at the switch. Not so.
A range of factors converged to create this crisis. Projects have been scaled down or put on hold at the last minute. Product orders have been reduced, postponed or cancelled without warning. Recently, there's been a marked increase in both the number of slow-pay customers and the dollar amounts involved. Two years of recession have depleted once healthy financial reserves.
To offset these factors, the company needs to jumpstart sales now. It also needs to do this by leveraging what it has without incurring any new, unplanned cash outlays.
Opportunities
ABC has several advantages that could represent real opportunities for quick action. Briefly, it has:
- A strong regional reputation, offset by the fact it hasn't advertised much in the past year
- Sufficient advertising dollars to place up to nine ads (based on size) with a weekly publication
- Six current, relevant ads in its ad bank, three of which have not yet been used
- An updated website
- An active business blog
- A relatively current and complete customer database
- In-house sales and marketing personnel
Challenge
If you were this company, what near-term strategy would you adopt? What would your 90-day action plan look like? What specific marketing, advertising, promotion and selling actions would you implement to jumpstart immediate sales?
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Related
Sales | How Do You Jumpstart Sales? [2]
Sales | How Do You Jumpstart Sales? [3]
Business Lesson 1 from Mr. Blandings
