Situation
· The U.S. economy has slowed dramatically due to non-essential business closings and significant slowdowns and revenue reductions in essential businesses
· The general population is hunkered down reducing personal spending and with major concerns regarding personal earnings, while a precipitous drop in the stock market is reducing spending
· Government sponsored rescue packages aim to shore up the economy until businesses can reopen.
· The crisis is expected to peak in April and optimistically begin to subside the May/June time period with 100K-240K US deaths and many more with long-term health issues resulting from the virus
· Business of all sizes have been impacted by this crisis
· A wide variety of businesses are expected to fail
Revenue Models and Recovery
Surviving firms will want to re-open and begin generating revenue as soon as the crisis passes and restraints are reduced and/or eliminated. But recovery plans will vary by type of organization and revenue model. First, we need to define the type of revenue model a business plans to use to reopen. Here are some examples:
1. The Restart—(“Do What we Did”): simply restarting the business, same products/services, same customers, same business model
2. The Restart-Start-Up—(“Do What we Did--Plus”): restarting the previous business, but adding or adjusting service or product outputs to serve a customer base that has changed, with new skills or identified needs, based on the influence from the crisis
3. The Retrofit—(“Do What we Haven’t Done”): repurposing the firm to address new opportunities with new products or services, not previously attempted
4. The New Deal (“Genesis Venture”): beginning a completely new businesses with a goal of addressing new needs and identified opportunities, resulting from the Corona experience
Opportunities
One clear message we’ve seen throughout the battle with the coronavirus is that data is a key element of winning the war. And not just a bunch of data points, but data that is relevant, tells a story, is filtered of irrelevant, misleading, erroneous and jaded information. Witness the daily Presidential Corona Task Force briefings in which Dr. Deborah Birx methodically explains complex database summary information to help laypeople gain clarity on where and how the crisis will progress. Understanding how events merge, even from different geographical locations, to solve problems large and small is an important, even critical, element of living in the technological age and bringing recovery to our economy.
As we emerge from the terrible impact of the coronavirus, both personally and economically, we can leverage data to help our businesses recover, rebound and return to former pre-corona, and hopefully stronger, levels. The great news is that a very significant amount of customer data exists and is accessible to businesses of all types. The key is partnering with a data firm that aims to understand your firm’s needs and has the business and operational experience to guide you in the use of the right data.
Practical Data Applications
The overall common need all businesses have, and will have exiting this crisis, is to generate revenue. How each firm will approach that need will be as individualized as the firm itself. The good news is that data can be manipulated, filtered, culled or pivoted to create a highly customized result. Here are some examples for different types of business models and how data can provide insight as we move into post-crisis and recovery mode:
1. The Restart—(“Do What we Did”): You had a great thing going before Corona. You just want to re-open and rock ‘n roll. But wait, your former customers may have changed. The crisis may have created new prospects, bankrupted former clients, and positively expanded the breadth of prospects geographically, financially or demographically. You’ll need to reengage with your former customer base and ‘re-launch’ with a goal of regaining awareness, contact and trial and ultimately regular repurchase. Also, since a portion of your former client’s businesses may not have survived the crisis, you should be reevaluating the reach of your client and prospect base.
2. The Restart-Start-Up—(“Do What we Did Plus”): As in the ‘restart’ example, things changed since you closed the doors, or slowed things way down. And now you are going to add new products or services to your previously successful model. Why limit the ‘plus’ to your previous customer base? “Plus up” your prospects as well and extend out to a broader prospective customer base to refill your revenue stream. Understanding your previous ‘best customer’ profile AND adding to that profile with your ‘plus-ed up’ new product or service will be key to revenue acceleration.
3. The Retrofit—(“Do What we Haven’t Done”): Also know as a pivot, this move takes some steely confidence, and leverages your pre-crisis grit. Knowing who your new customer base and potential ‘best customer’ will be key and then identifying others who fit that profile and reaching them will be critical. Available customer data can be screened, filtered and segmented to provide a clear picture of where your ‘new’ customers reside.
4. The New Deal—(“Genesis Venture”): This completely new businesses with a goal of addressing new needs and identified opportunities resulting from the Corona experience mandates a clear approach to a new customer base. As you move into a new territory, understanding who your customer will be and a clear mapping of your customer targeting assumptions will be critical. Data can help you quantify and qualify nuances as you move forward, as well as targeting your future customers.
Recovery Ready
Brooks Integrated Marketing (BIM) is ready today to assist your firm in your recovery efforts by:
1. Listening carefully to your needs and goals to make sure we provide the right information and most accurate data
2. Leveraging our business experience to help you optimize the data we can access for the best revenue recovery
3. Addressing your needs promptly to provide you the accurate data tools to speed you on your road to recovery
Brooks Integrated Marketing and ProspectsIM ready to help you start planning for tomorrow’s recovery, today.
