8 Tips To Help You Beat The Slowdown

Forget company cars. Decrease discretionary spending and be proactive by having employees work on internal projects, such as creating plans to develop new products or finding ways to smooth out internal work processes.

2. Redefine Sales Strategies

Take a lesson from Web integrators like Concero and Sysinct. Both companies restructured their selling and marketing activities around larger enterprise customers and a select number of industries.

3. Make the Most of Your Staff

Shift employees to better utilize their expertise while satisfying staffing needs. Keep consultants busy with longer-term projects, whether it's building out infrastructure or improving sales force and human-resource processes.

4. Sell CRM Solutions

Companies want to hold on to every existing customer and increase the income generated by the relationships with them. For many of your clients, customer relationship management (CRM) solutions are the answer they are looking for.

5. Use Your A-Team

Don't allow inexperienced staffers to handle your clients' problems. A number of e-services companies fell victim to that trap during the height of last year's Internet boom.

6. Live And Breathe ROI

Integrators who can successfully sell return on investment,and deliver it consistently,will be in the best position.

7. Focus On What You Can Control

During economic uncertainty, companies should focus on areas they have some control over, such as managing costs and existing customers.

8. Take A Different Tack

You need a different strategy now. Spend more time with big customers during soft times and make sure they don't feel neglected as they often do in fast-growth periods when organizations generally look ahead to acquiring new customers.