Some Ways to rethink your strategy in this economy
1. Stop waiting for Clients to reach out to you. Improve your marketing efforts and offer samples and best prices to your customers
2. Do not always look for maximum profit; Work with your clients and settle with a mutually beneficial deal.
3. Create a video's on your website where clients can actually see your company and get a feel of all the Cutting tools & Threading Tools that would be supplied to them. Transparency is the key to success
4. Diversify your list of client and try and market your product in different parts of the world.
5. Cut Operational Costs to the maximum
6. Retain all your employees and may be work with them on a Part Time basis.
7. Be willing to change rapidly, this is the key to survive in any bad economy.
In today's world you should be in a position to have a drink and listen to your customers, their thoughts and opinions. You have to build a relationship with your customers the same way as you have built a relationship with all your closest buddies over the past 40+ years.
Here are five reasons why your customers are like your closest buddies:
(1) You cannot put up an image, you need to be yourself: Your closest friends know you really well and you can't take them for a ride. Similarly, your distributors are no different. You have to be very genuine and cannot put up and image.
(2) Do not brag about yourself: You know the consequences you would face if you brag about your self to your old friends. They will no longer hang out with you. Similarly, you don't have to brag about your products, your distributors and customers know how good or not good you are. Your focus is to try and solve you're their problems
(3) Your friends choose you: You were not born with your friends but you could choose them and they could choose you based on the compatibility level and wavelength. Similarly, you distributors can choose you based on the quality of service and products you provide.
(4) Your friends are straight and upfront: None of your oldest buddies are going to hide any information about you. If something is to be said they would say it out loud and clear. Similarly, your distributors and customers are very straight and upfront and will say what they have to.
(5) Long Relationship: If you survived 30+ years with your friends this means that both your friends and yourself were compatible with each other. Similarly, if you consider you distributor or a customer your friend and build a long term relationship, this relationship would be based on confidence and trust.