By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive

We all should be recovered from anesthesia by about now. There are companies that I think are really going to be in trouble this year. Did anyone really need to decorate their home solely with Pottery Barn and Williams and Sonoma furnishings? How many businesses started, and grew, because of the real estate and credit bubbles? Of course they had to grow to serve a hungry public but did they have an exit plan? Were they working hard to build and maintain quality relationships with their current customers? Did senior management understand that there really would be a day when the easy money would stop flowing? Did management invest in preparations for the economic dénouement?

More often than not, in my experience, the answer is, “no”.

Here is what we suggest to help put your business in a position to succeed in 2009:

• Focus on low-cost, high-value, long-lasting products.
• Offer recession beaters.
• Build relationships with your existing customers. Don’t try to sell them with every e-mail. Give them something once and a while, even if it’s free and useful information.
• Let them know you’re in this with them.
• Let them teach you how to sell them by asking questions. 
• Promotions, promotions, promotions, but offer something unique that can really be used immediately. Cut a deal with a company and drop-ship steaks. Approach a movie theater chain and see what kind of prices you can get on free movie tickets.
• Hopefully you’ll have your inventory controls tightened up in 2009 and inventory reduced.
• Host small sales events to your e-mail database.
• Treat your best customers like gold.
• Understand the mindset of shoppers. Scrutinize the products you offer to see whether the prices and quality meet the new standards from consumers who are questioning the real value of things. You have web analytics. Understand them or get a company that does to help you.
• Understand the psycho-graphics and preferences of you current customers so that you can target them with offers and e-mail designs that appeal to them.   
• Examine internal processes for the purpose of identifying inefficiencies and out-source. You probably don’t have the revenue to invest in the technologies even if you could find, and afford, some-one in-house. • Protect your brand by respecting your targeted audience while carefully building and maintaining your relationships with current customers.

I once asked a friend who founded and grew his company to over $100,000,000 in yearly revenue if he had any advice. He responded with two bullet points:

• Don’t worry about the numbers because if you provide a quality product at a fair margin and back that up with great customer support then the numbers will always work out.
• Friends stick with friends. If a customer has a positive experience with your company, then you’ve made that customer a friend and that customer is exponentially more likely to buy from you again based on the friendly relationship you’ve started.  

We wish you the best.