Make a crisis management contingency plan

In order to protect your business and keep it running in the midst of a crisis, you need to do a lot of risk planning. Having a contingency plan will outline the steps your company should take in the event of a crisis. Your plan should clearly state the measures you are going to take in regards to your employees and business operations.

During a pandemic crisis make sure you include: steps you are taking to protect your employees, what you plan to do if an outbreak happens in your business, ways employees can contact you in cases of emergency and what may happen to your business operations if the business is infected.

Move your business online

Most brick and mortar businesses can become great online businesses with a few tweaks. If you have an in-person trade, this might actually be an opportunity to expand your reach or adapt your service. You can move your scheduled classes online, set up an online store and so on, the only limit is your imagination.

For B2B operating businesses, EL B2B platform is a fantastic way to keep up your business operations running, generate new business deals and identify opportunities completely remotely. A crisis is the final moment when you should utilize all resources in your hands to keep your business afloat.

Adapting to how things are during a crisis, and moving your business online can increase your chances of surviving and even thriving when the crisis is over.

Adopt a work from home policy

Finding alternative work arrangements can really keep your business running during a crisis. Moreover, having a work from home policy offers a variety of benefits to both the remote employee and their employers. If you can introduce a work from home system and create specific guidelines to ensure all employees understand what exactly is required from them when they work remotely. Some of the key elements include: proper technology, secure connection, implementing active communication, setting clear expectations and most importantly – trusting your employees.

Depending on your industry and business, working from home may not be possible to implement. However, if at all possible, consider implementing it and make your company operations swift to be fully remote. Not only will it keep your business running during a pandemic crisis, it will also protect everyone’s health, lower some of your costs and increase the efficiency of your employees.

Step up your cleaning game

If implementing a temporary work from home arrangement, or moving your business online is impossible for you, it is necessary to sanitize your business on the daily. Regardless of how often your business was being cleaned till now, whether it be once a week or once every day, you need to step it up and do it more frequently.

Implement a mandatory rule for employees to disinfect their work stations daily (or maybe even multiple times per day), request sick employees not to come to the office, be flexible with sick leave, and most importantly stack up on soap, disinfectants and hand sanitizer. Because nothing keeps a business running in crisis, like happy and healthy employees.

Take advantage of government help programs

The current crisis is hitting the business world and economy hard, but there is no need for panic because Government help and Small Business Reliefs are on the way!If your business is struggling to gather funds to cover your business expenses due to the crisis, you are not out of luck just yet.

As part of its budget announcement, the governments around the world announced a number of welcome measures to help small businesses cope with coronavirus, including support for those that need to pay statutory sick pay and changes to the benefits system to help employees on zero-hour contracts. The help available varies from Government Grants, to Business Loans, help with tax and VAT, help with salaries and so on… just to help business’ keep running during crisis.

Conclusion

While no one can predict every challenge that might come your way, having solid plans in place and staying flexible can make the difference between shutting down and pushing through. Whether you’re facing your first business crisis or planning ahead for the next one, remember that preparation and adaptability are your best tools. After all, it’s not about avoiding every storm but learning to dance in the rain.

Understand the reason

“The most important thing is to prove you can be useful and add value to their business or role. I send relevant articles and tips and show them what competitors are doing. I’m also upfront and ask directly what it is they’re waiting for and the address this. For example, if they’re waiting for their boss to sign off costs I give them case study data.” – Charli Hunt Proof Content.

Charli has a good point here: you need to dive deeper in their objection. Ask the right questions to get to the source of the hesitation and then work on removing it by offering the solution they need. You need to make them feel comfortable with their decision to move forward.

For instance, Justin Bryan from Winning Ways uses humour to remove the tension: “I’m direct in a comedic way – ‘The only people that come back are Terminator and Jesus you don’t look like either so let me ask you, where did I lose you?’

There’s an underlying objection you need to pull out of them.” 

By the same token, you can also respond like this:

– Great! You should definitely think this over. Tell me though, on a scale of 1-10 where do you lie? 1 being   ‘not for me at all’ and 10 being you wanna get started today.
– They say 6.
– Great! Why didn’t you choose 5?
– They tell you the reason.
– Well what can I do to get you to a 10 today?

Sometimes the obstacle on the way of closing the deal is that you failed to articulate the value or guarantee. In this case you have to reframe the entire conversation and give them the value on a platter. 

However, more often than not, it’s the cost that worries clients. In such situations you can most certainly close the deal by giving them a discount or multiple payment methods they can choose from.

Don’t be pushy

Remember that before becoming an entrepreneur yourself, you were a client too. In fact, you’re still a client to someone. Being pushy, aggravating or annoying will only lead to a dispute and you’ll likely lose the client forever. You don’t want to be a telemarketer, do you?

Don’t hurry it up for them. Let them know you support their decision to think or talk it through with their partners or superiors. By pressuring them you’ll only burn the bridge down. Not to say that they will probably tell about the bad experience they had with you to everyone they know, and that’s more bridges down.

A simple “Looking forward to hearing from you again” and “Have a wonderful day” will take you a lot further than an aggressive attitude. It shows that you respect them as a person and you’re not only interested in their money.

In addition, if during your conversation with them you realise your services or products are not for them, you should point them to the right direction even if that’s your competition. They will most certainly remember your selflessness and return to you at some point.

Follow up

Once you hear the notorious ‘I will think about it’ you can politely ask them how long will that take and when can you reach out to them again. Moreover, you should let them know they can contact you anytime if they have some questions.

This is what Laura Cutress from Laura Rose Creative teaches business owners to do:

“Something I work on frequently with business owners is helping them communicate the VALUE of their offering, not just the price. Something that is very useful after the initial ‘pitch’ is sending over a detailed proposal email/PDF with a little bit more about the offer, complete with testimonials, and product or service breakdown and 3 packages/offers at different price points. This is the perfect follow up opportunity to get them on board with your brand, let them select the right package at a price that works for them, and convert them from a ‘Maybe’ to a ‘HELL YES!’ “

Create urgency

This approach should be taken with a dose of precaution. Because it means you’re selling on price and not on quality.

Nonetheless, it has shown to be quite effective. People are usually inclined towards special deals. It makes them feel… special! Although you’re a salesperson, they want you to be their friend and treat them better than you treat the rest by offering them a good deal.

So, you can create an urgency with an offer that expires soon, a special discount they only get today, or something of the sort.

Move on

Salespeople often have a saying that says it’s always better to go for the early ‘No’. While it is something you don’t really want to hear, it will save you a lot of time, effort and heartache. The truth is, not everyone will or should accept your deal. Getting a ‘no’ is not the end of your business.

Experience shows that “I will think about it” is usually a code for “I’m not interested”. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but in the majority of situations it’s what it means.

You can ask them to choose between ‘yes’ or ‘no’ right away but it can sound too pushy, and you remember what we said about it. The safest option here is to presume it’s a ‘no’. Best case scenario – they might come back with a ‘yes’. Worst case scenario – you were right, you moved on and closed dozens of other deals in the meantime, instead of wasting time waiting on them.

Conclusion

Listen more than you talk, this way you’ll be able to hear their real needs and offer them exactly what you ask. Approach every client with respect and remember that they’re all different. What worked with one, might not work with another. 

Online trade shows alternative to physical trade shows

Online trade shows are a relatively new concept and are still perfecting their functionalities as there are limitations compared to traditional physical trade shows. Some virtual trade show organizers like Hyperfair are trying to enable companies to showcase their business in a virtual reality world resembling the once-popular SecondLife. These shows function like an ordinary online directory and there is some adopting 3D technology. At these virtual business trade shows you don’t have to leave your office, nor be all day at your booth. Rather you can continue with your office work until someone stops at your virtual booth.

B2B platform like a online trade show but active 24/7

B2B platforms, on the other hand, offer the benefits of virtual trade shows with the further advantage of being online constantly, getting real-time notifications when someone is interested in your company and most important of all you can post and bid on business tenders. Small businesses no longer need to waste considerable amounts of money and time to attend physical trade shows or business exhibitions to get new business deals and make sales. By being present on a B2B platform like Enterprise League, small businesses can reduce significantly their cost-per-lead ratio, save time by continuing business as usual operations and both, directly and indirectly, attract potential collaborations.

If small businesses are resourceful they can identify ways to continue their B2B networking and lead generation operations online. B2B platforms are an ideal online alternative to B2B trade shows and exhibitions, which require minimal setup. You can create your company profile within a couple of minutes and immediately begin actively showcasing your offerings as if you would at a business trade show but remotely. Utilizing such a B2B platform as an online B2B trade show will help you save costs, increase and track sales data in real-time. B2B platform’s AI technology has the potential to revolutionize the way physical and remote trade shows work and become a fusion of a constantly active show with quick lead generation and sales benefits.

Conclusion

 Whether you’re hosting digital product launches, running virtual networking events, or creating online showrooms, these digital alternatives aren’t just Band-Aid solutions – they’re powerful tools that can complement or even enhance your B2B marketing strategy. The future of B2B networking might just be a hybrid one, where the best of both worlds comes together to create stronger business connections.

The five elements that make up a successful word of mouth marketing strategy

Your ‘Talkers’

These are the people spreading the word. They come in all shapes and sizes but will have three things in common: they’re passionate about your industry, have a degree of knowledge and as such credibility and they make it their business to be well connected. 

Think outside the box here. Every time a new show opened a theatre director gave free tickets to local taxi drivers. In return, they’d rave about the show to their passengers. Within two years, sales had doubled. 

Once you’ve identified your ideal Talkers, profile them. Understanding pain points is not enough; you want them to do more than buy your services, you want them to recommend you, so you must go one step further and understand their motivations for doing so. What’s in it for them? Once you figure it out, fuel it. 

Connection – the contents of your content

All word of mouth starts with a message to spread, so being crystal clear on what it is you want to be known for is the bedrock of a WOM strategy. If you don’t know, how will anyone else? 

As a starter revisit your list of Talkers and consider what they talk about, how you can add value there and build a content plan around it. 

This is how I arrived at my word of mouth strategy, which is ironically the topic of word of mouth. It wasn’t intentional, it just happened that as no one else was talking about it, I became known for it. 

If all else fails, be playful! Much like the hotel chains who have goldfish bowls in every room, to keep traveller’s company while away from home.

Activation – the format of your content

Next, make it repeatable. Simple. Easy to share. Think bullets and bitesize sentences, straight forward language and no sales or marketing spiel – no one talks like that in real life.

Participation – other people’s content

Tracking

Word of Mouth doesn’t happen over-night, so keeping track of and learning which topics do and don’t work will ensure you stay focused. Shares and mentions on social media, email forwards and referral schemes are all great indicators. 

My favourite tool is the Net Promotor Score (NPS). It’s easy to implement tells you how likely it is that your audience would recommend you. 

So that’s all folks! 

Word of mouth isn’t cool, but it can be fun. And when executed strategically is a bloody effective tool for growth. It gets my vote, even if it’s the only one. 

Connect and do business with BLOC + ROSE on Enterprise League

Conclusion

Remember that genuine word-of-mouth must be earned through consistent value delivery and building trust. Start small by implementing one or two strategies discussed in this article, measure their impact, and adjust your approach accordingly. Whether through referral programs, social proof, or creating shareable moments, the key is to make your customers feel valued and heard. When you turn your customers into advocates, you’re not just building a business; you’re creating a community that grows stronger with each positive recommendation.