Businesses that thrive in any economy do things differently.
In a recession, here are two moves your staffing firm should make to come out on top:
Winners play defense.
To win in a downturn:
- Get prepared, before it happens. Don’t wait to act. Spend time planning, NOW.
- Cut (non-essential) costs. Negotiate contracts. Shop alternatives. And get rid of expenses your firm can do without, even temporarily.
- Automate / streamline processes and procedures. Look for ways technology and process improvement can drive efficiencies and cost savings.
- Strengthen customer relationships. Use Zoom, Skype or other technology to get much-needed facetime. Master digital customer service.
- Sign long-term contracts. Give employers incentives for volume or long-term contracts.
- Focus on your core strengths. Become unbeatable / irreplaceable at what you do.
- Build a cash cushion. Use every extra dollar to create a reserve.
- Don’t get comfortable. Challenge everything you do, looking for ways to do it faster, better and in a way that’s easier for clients and candidates.
Winners play offense, too.
Instead of merely reacting to the conditions around you, get aggressive:
- Market. Market. Stay visible! Pursue strategic opportunities.
- Invest to improve efficiency. Look for tools that eliminate wasted time, money and resources.
- Top grade talent. Capitalize on talent availability by driving healthy churn both internally and with your temps on assignment.
- Invest in R&D or digital transformation. Consider initiatives or technology that will generate cost, service quality and/or speed advantages.
- Invest to build around your core focus. Whatever your area of competitive advantage, spend intelligently to widen the gap between you and the competition.
- Pursue M&A. Buy companies now, when they cost less.
Need help creating more “wins” for your firm in this economy?
These free resources can help:
- Download our Smart Marketing Checklist
- Read our eBook, “Strategies for a Changed World: Creating Your Playbook for Success.”
- Visit our COVID-19 Recovery Resources page for more business strategy and marketing ideas to recession-proof your business.
- Join the new Staffing Works Slack Group. We created a Slack group to help the staffing industry come together to deal with the challenges we are all facing. The group is a place for staffing professionals to discuss sales, marketing, recruiting, technology and other issues that are impacting your company.
If there’s anything more we can do to help, we’re just a click or call away.