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Everyone is talking about a crisis, but how does it affect your business?

Is the number of new customers decreasing? Constant clients are returning less and less? Is the average check diminishing? Suppliers raised prices? Is logistics more expensive? Is it harder to get a loan? Employees are demoralized, lost heart, in the team are gloomy moods?

If all this is about your business, read the article to the end. Perhaps you will find something useful for yourself, you can apply some of the recommendations that I give in it, and correct the existing situation.

So, 6 steps to survive the crisis:

1. Optimization of expenses.

No wonder they say: "I did not spend it - I earned it!" What can and should be saved:

On inefficient staff. Indeed, the crisis is the time when the business gets rid of those employees who do not develop it and do not increase it, playing the role of ballast. The load of the dismissed employee is distributed among the remaining employees for a small increase in salary. The basic part of the salary of the dismissed employee remains in the budget of the company. Additional savings are taxes and other deductions, which the business no longer pays for. At current costs. The introduction of strict control over costs (transportation costs, stationery, household chemicals, utilities, etc.) brings a quick result. On bonuses to the staff. If premiums in your business are tied to sales or net profit, the decline in these indicators forces you to refuse to pay bonuses. On purchases and transportation of materials. In crisis times, it is worthwhile to expand the familiar boundaries and consider the possibility of finding other suppliers, carriers, more budgetary materials of the same quality. On corporate holidays. Do not give up holidays in general, it will further undermine the morale of the team. But to replace the trip to an expensive restaurant by going on a nature, visiting a bowling club or a party at the workplace is quite possible.

2. Sanitation of staff.

In a literal sense, sanitation is a recovery. In a crisis, it is necessary not only to get rid of negligent employees, but also to activate those that have remained.

This goal is achieved through: - corporate training, - review and strengthening of the motivation system, - constant search and hiring of the most valuable, effective employees.

Crisis time leads to the closure of companies andliberates such personnel, which one could only dream of in more peaceful periods of the economy. Do not miss the opportunity to attract them to your business.

Staff training is effective at all times, but in a crisisit is especially necessary. Your employees must have the most effective techniques of attracting and retaining clients, and have the skills to apply them.

The motivation system is a very difficult subject for disclosing in this article, but one thing is for sure: in the crisis, the whip should be longer, and the carrot - sweeter!

3. Reinforcement of advertising!

The most common mistake managers -Reduction of the advertising budget in hard times. What does this policy lead to? The number of new customers has already decreased, the profit has decreased. The lack of advertising will lead to the fact that your company will be forgotten, and the client flow will run out completely. And this threatens to destroy business.

If you kept track of the effectiveness of advertisingcarriers, redistribute the advertising budget. Put more money into those carriers that bring you the lion's share of customers. Get rid of ineffective sources of advertising. Strengthen partisan marketing, if the means for advertising is not enough. The main thing is not to allow customers to forget about you!

If no account was taken, it's time to start doing it. Proper advertising is not just about spending. This is your investment in future profits.

4. Improving the quality of goods and services.

It's easy to say, hard to do! Yes, I understand that. But to remain one of many in a crisis is a losing strategy. You should activate all resources to become one of the best companies in your segment. Quality is provided mainly by goods and people. Bringing the most effective personnel into your business, training employees and finding the best materials and resources is the minimum from which you can start, striving for excellence.

Take a closer look at your business processes: what can be improved right now to ensure higher quality of goods or services?

5. Improving the quality of service.

Quality service is important not less, and maybe,even more than a quality product. The customer can forgive you the lack of goods, if you apologize, replace the product and give the buyer a certain bonus for moral damage. But he will not forgive the rudeness and indifference of your employees.

Good service is the strict execution of one's ownobligations to the customer, compliance with the terms of the agreement, price, subject of sale. It's cordiality and courtesy of your staff, the desire to make the purchase process more comfortable, and the result - exceeding his expectations. This is attention to the client and after the transaction was completed. This emphasis on every detail, because in the matter of quality customer service, there are no trifles.

How satisfied are your customers with the services you provide them? Crisis is the time to learn it and raise your bar!

6. Introduction of the client loyalty system.

This point follows directly from the previous one. But I specifically singled it out to emphasize the need to implement the SYSTEM, rather than one-off measures on the mood of a particular employee. Think, talk to your customers: maybe they want something more than your banal discount card? Probably, those of you who have long used your services or are buying goods would like to have personal signs of your loyalty to your business?

If you conducted a segmentation of permanentclients, you know which of them returns to you more often than others, who leaves the most substantial amount for a visit, and who recommends you to their friends and acquaintances. A well-established system of loyalty in the company is a civilized way to encourage and thank these people!

I hope this article was for youuseful. If you find some valuable ideas in it, implement them right now! I wish your business not only to survive in a crisis, but also to achieve success and prosperity!

Elena Trigub.

Tip 2: How to earn the trust of your guests in a restaurant

For successful business of restaurant business happensnot enough to cook delicious food and sell them at low prices. Attract new visitors to the restaurant and earn the loyalty of regular guests is one of the main tasks of a good restaurateur. But how can you win their trust?

Why fight for the guests?

Analysts of the restaurant business say thatthe average number of so-called loyal guests, that is, people who visit a certain restaurant on a regular basis (for example, once or twice a month), is about 15% of the total mass of visitors. At the same time, such guests provide up to half of the total profit, since their average check, as a rule, is somewhat higher than for guests who have come for the first time. In addition, loyal guests allow the owner of the restaurant to rely on a relatively constant income, despite seasonal downturns and crises.

Loyalty programs for prestigious restaurants should not include various "discount" promotions, as this will negatively affect their image of elite institutions.

Obviously, to form a pool of loyalvisitors are very important, because the competition in the restaurant business is quite large, which means that for the survival and prosperity of the restaurant, regular guests are needed who will not only regularly visit the establishment themselves, but also recommend it to friends, relatives, colleagues. Traditionally, various programs for the formation and maintenance of loyalty are much cheaper than the work to attract new visitors to the restaurant.

Conquest of trust

In order for the people who come to the restaurant to becomehis constant guests, you need a few important things. First of all, you need to meet their expectations from visiting the institution. As a rule, restaurant guests count on a certain level of quality, service and attention, according to the money spent. The task of the restaurant is to fully meet these expectations. However, this is only the first step: of course, it will lead to the fact that your guest will be satisfied, but trust is still far away. It is necessary to develop a program to encourage regular visitors, which will attract satisfied guests to your institution again and again. It can be various discount cards with cumulative discounts or a point program that allows guests to receive free meals after accumulating a certain number of points. In addition, do not neglect the sending of invitations and gifts via SMS and e-mail. Especially it concerns solemn occasions, for example, birthdays. Naturally, this requires the collection of personal data of visitors, which is most often done by questioning during the issuance of a permanent guest card.

An effective way to gain trust is to address a permanent guest by name, which you can learn indirectly, for example, by reading on a plastic card.

With the development of social networks, an important role has been played byplay feedback, expressed in the feedback of visitors to a restaurant on the Internet, as well as the reaction of the restaurant administration to these reviews. Even an unsatisfied guest can be attracted to the restaurant once again, if he responds competently to his negative feedback, offer compensation or a discount. In principle, people respond favorably to any manifestation of attention: from a meeting with their restaurant director in the lobby to a polite response to a negative review.