10 Ways to Survive and Thrive in a Downturn

1. Offer free assessments and other road-mapping tools to your customers. You’ll ensure a quicker sales cycle when they’re ready to buy.
2. Introduce new technologies often. Your customers should always know what’s there in the market and that you can get it to them as soon as they need it.
3. Keep relationships strong by conducting regular webinars on the solutions you offer
4. Show customers that productivity gains from solutions such as virtualization can offset the costs of implementing the technology.
5. Focus on recession-proof technologies such as security and storage, where customers’ needs tend to grow regardless of the economy.
6. If you haven’t already, think about developing a managed services practice. A small investment on your part can help your customers plan for the future.
7. Develop case studies to show customers your solutions and successes, and what you can do for them.
8. Expand your customer base. Serving more vertical markets means less cyclical exposure to any one customer segment’s spending patterns.
9. Get the timing right. New technology adoption, compliance issues and policy changes can open the door to new opportunities.
10. Go Green. Help customers save money and look smart doing it by implementing solutions that reduce their data center footprint and power consumption costs.