Focus on services they consider irreplaceable.
 

Conventional marketing wisdom tells us that in a down economy, product brand loyalty goes out the window in favor of lower prices. Private label brands are the beneficiary of shoppers who are looking for more value. People become less concerned with status or even quality, when the differences are minor. But is this also true in the services sector? Are people just as likely to give up long-standing relationships, amenities or certain intangible benefits of customer service to save money? Times like these are a true test of your services. Companies that have communicated their value to customers and have made true believers of them should have no difficulty weathering the storm. A truly loyal customer will continue to pay for products or services that are perceived to be beneficial. They will sacrifice other things before they give up on your brand.

In the process, though, you might learn something valuable about which of your services are most important to your customers; that is, which ones are perceived to be necessary to their quality of life and which can be replaced by cheaper alternatives or even DIY (do-it-yourself) methods. Some examples:

A day spa has experienced no decrease in appointments for hair or nail services, but massages are down about 15%.

Interpretation: "Don’t mess with my appearance, but a massage is something I can live without until things start looking up."

An off-site airport parking facility that shuttles you to and from the terminal and delivers you to your warmed-up car has actually experienced a 10 percent increase in utilization.

Interpretation: "They are cheaper than the most convenient, short-term parking lot at the airport, so I’m willing to leave home a few minutes earlier for the combination of saving a few bucks and door-to-door service."

A health, wellness and weight-loss consultancy is seeing a steady number of new clients, but their current clients have cut down on the volume of prepackaged vitamins and ready-to-eat meals by 25 percent in the last three months.

Interpretation: "Self-improvement New Year resolutions are still popular but we can get the same vitamins cheaper online or at a health food store and we can make more of an effort to prepare our own meals for a while."

If you can relate to any of these scenarios, start concentrating on those parts of your business that are most distinctive and value-oriented. You should be able to build your customer base in spite of all the doom and gloom in the news. In the inimitable words of Ted Turner, "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise."

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