As local authorities struggle to cope with budget shortfalls, it’s expected job cuts may reach 20,000 across the UK.

Nottinghamshire Council announced yesterday that it planned to shed up to 1,500 jobs and Birmingham City Council is expecting to cut 2,000.  These cuts, says the Independent, are mirrored across the country.  (Visit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cash-crisis-hits-town-halls-from-truro-to-aberdeen-1904125.html for the full story.)

So what does this mean for your company?

• If you only deal with the public sector, now could be a good time to look at alternative markets.  Are there organisations in the social, not-for-profit or private sectors who could use your product or service?  If so, what relationships do you need to build / what networks should you consider joining?
• 20,000 cuts means 20,000 job seekers; many of whom will have great contacts into the public sector and an understanding of tendering for work – could they be an asset to your company?
• If you are marketing your business to the public sector, they are highly likely to be focused on savings – if you can save them money, that may save jobs.  Focus on that element of your product or service and you may get a hearing – particularly if it’s a fast payback.
• A significant number of people losing their jobs are likely to set up their own businesses.  If you help start-ups, that could prove a great opportunity for you – can you perhaps be proactive and approach the local authorities to offer training and guidance to people who may want to take that route?

As always, opportunities abound in any ‘bad’ news – you just need to look harder for the positive outcomes sometimes.  Spotting these opportunities – and getting our customers in front of them, so they can take advantage – is what we do as marketing consultants – if you don’t have someone in-house watching for these opportunities, you should maybe ask for some outside help from a local marketing company.

Networking can be a really useful and cost-effective marketing technique, providing you stick to the golden marketing rule of ‘consistency’.  You need to spend time building relationships and attend events with realistic expectations.

We’ve been networking for over six years and run our own networking event.  Our top tips for making sure you get the most from your networking activities are:

1. Attend plenty of groups to start with and see which ones you like and which ones contain people you may be able to work with
2. Look beyond the members – you are trying to find out who they work with, not just what they do.  Could they open doors for you?
3. Decide on maybe two or three groups to join – maybe one social group and one focused business network such as BNI (Business Network International)
4. Attend regular meetings – if you aren’t there, you can’t get to know people – and they can’t get to know you
5. Offer to help people.  The more help you can be to others, the more likely they will want to help you in return
6. Learn an elevator pitch, so you can present your business well
7. Be specific about the kind of companies you’re looking for, to help people help you
8. Set yourself some goals, so you can measure your return on investment
9. Be realistic about what you can expect from the group – people aren’t likely to pass you business until they know you.  (Networking isn’t a get-rich quick scheme.)
10. Under no circumstances sell to the people in the room – that will destroy any credibility you may have and only serves to upset seasoned networkers

Networking is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing there is, but it takes time.  Over the years, we’ve seen many companies try networking and bemoan the fact it doesn’t work.  But, like everything else, it’s something you have to stick at and it’s a skill you have to learn.  Just because you run a business, or work in sales / marketing, doesn’t mean you’re any good at networking, so get yourself on a course and put your learning into practice.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing runs regular ‘Marketing Trends’ surveys and, in their latest, they reviewed CRM – Customer Relationship Management and it’s return on investment.  Their findings were really interesting and give an insight into customer behaviour in a recession:

They found that CRM is delivering the best returns on marketing investment.  Because we live in uncertain times at the moment, customers seem not to be switching suppliers.  In fact, they’re staying where they are unless they operate in a market which is very price-orientated.

Although people have been deferring replacement, particularly of large items such as cars, there is no indication of a change in loyalty – so CRM remains important.

They say that people buy from people they like.  And CRM is all about building closer relationships with your customers.  So, this strategy should work, regardless of the economic climate.