12 Recession decisions for your CEO

As there is a recession going on and will be for a while, the question is: how can the company withstand or survive it?

The CEO has to take decisions (or not):

1. Keep product range – shrink product range
Keep your product range – Narrow down the number of products and solutions.
A larger offering in order not to miss any customer.
Or a fewer products to offer the best price quality?

2. Cheaper products – Expensive products
Making your products cheaper by less features or lower quality.
Or making them more expensive by adding features or higher quality?

3. Low on labor costs – High on labor costs
Simple installations and deployments.
Or complex integrations with on site labor?

4. Short sales cycles – Long sales cycles
More productizing your solutions in order to shorten sales cycles. Standard products have a shorter sales cycle.
Or projects and one-off solutions? Projects have long sales cycle and require long negotiations.

5. Online marketing – Print advertising
Online marketing: online advertising, or even using social media.
Or Print advertising in industry magazines.
What shall be the most effective? What reaches your buyers the best?

6. Online sales – Face-to-face meetings
Online sales using forms and credit cards.
Or getting appointments for meetings involving travel and sales people?

7. Online website chat – Cold calling
Waiting for customers on your website.
Or dynamic cold calling the businesses in your market segment?

8. Focus on website – Booths on trade shows
The search engines have turned the Internet into a 24 x 7 world wide trade show. The goal is to obtain as many leads as possible from your website.
Or participating in many trade shows in order to generate more leads? Will people still visit trade shows due to the costs involved.

9. Online quotes – Pricing case by case
Standard pricing lists.
Or calculated one-off pricing?

10. More branding – Advertising the products
Spending more on the brand name in order to build awareness and branding.
Or product advertising, explaining the features, advantages and benefits of the products.

11. Keep employees – lay off employees
Keeping the employees in order to push the products into the market when competitors are downsizing.
Or down size in order to minimize operational costs in order to become a lean company.

12. Company has employees and staff for all functions – Outsourcing
The company has employees for every aspect of the company.
Or the company outsource all non company specific functions: administration, HRM, accounting, IT department, support, PR, …
Outsourcing brings flexibility as there is no hire and fire and this can bring lower operation costs due to specialization.

The decision will depend on:

- The current offering of products and solutions
- Product positioning
- The cash position
- The net cash flow
- The number of employees your balance sheet can support
- The amount of affordable advertising
- The ability to make or impose changes
- The competition

You probably know a few required decisions to survive the recession. Tell us.