{"id":296407,"date":"2025-06-16T05:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T05:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/marketing\/generating-sales-in-a-pandemic-five-ways-to-get-online-quickly\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T05:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T05:08:56","slug":"generating-sales-in-a-pandemic-five-ways-to-get-online-quickly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=296407","title":{"rendered":"Generating Sales In A Pandemic. Five Ways To Get Online Quickly"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
\n

The Five Conversations We\u2019re Having With Business Owners<\/h2>\n

\"Print\"Print<\/a>\u00a0Print This Post<\/a><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

If nothing else, the novel coronavirus has helped small business owners (and others) identify vulnerabilities and points of failure in their businesses. It\u2019s undoubtedly been a wakeup call for everyone that begs the question, how do we respond?<\/p>\n

What Have We Learned So Far?<\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve learned that early warning systems are not much good if we\u2019re unprepared to respond. We\u2019ve also learned about the inherent weaknesses in our critical supply chains. We\u2019ve learned that our independence is more important than we realized. We\u2019ve also learned about the dangers of relying on a small handful of suppliers for food, medicine and protective equipment, be they foreign or domestic.<\/p>\n

As a small business community, we\u2019ve learned how vulnerable our businesses are to change. We\u2019ve also seen how reliant we\u2019ve become on the businesses equipped to operate online.<\/p>\n

What Has Accrue Learned About Our Business?<\/h3>\n

For the past few years, we\u2019ve been working to transform our business. Our goal is to be customer-centric, to focus on systems development, to build in redundancies and to move everything possible online. We want to offer a more balanced mix of products and services. We don\u2019t want to rely 100% on our declining local market.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also learned that despite our efforts, we still have a lot to do. However, we\u2019ve learned that our efforts to make the shift are on the right track. We\u2019re not scrambling to pivot our business. We\u2019re scrambling to finish what we started.<\/p>\n

What Else Have We Learned?<\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve learned that as a small business with limited resources, we have to make shifts a little at a time. We have to start with the end in mind and focus on the \u201cbig rocks first\u201d, as Stephen Covey would say. We\u2019ve come to see our transformation as a five-year project. However, we\u2019ve seen benefits from every incremental step in the process.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not going to say the transition has been easy. It has not. It has required focus, sacrifice, investment and sometimes sheer force of will, stubbornness and more.<\/p>\n

What Have You Learned From Your COVID-19 Experience?<\/h3>\n

Are you pleased with your level of readiness? Are you looking for a way to pivot or transition? Or, are you still waiting for so-called normality to be restored?<\/p>\n

If only this craziness were the result of our improbability drive counting down and returning us to normal. But we\u2019re not on the Heart of Gold, the virus is real, and there\u2019s no sperm whale acquainting itself with anything as it falls to earth. If you\u2019re not a Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide To The Galaxy<\/a> fan, sorry, scratch that reference.<\/p>\n

So What\u2019s Next?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s the question we all face. Once you\u2019ve worked your way through triage mode, reduced expenses and such, what do you do next?\u00a0Do you wait and see, hoping for the best? Do you refocus temporarily to get by? Or, do you make some heroic pivot and transform your business?\u00a0There\u2019s no obvious answer as everyone\u2019s business and situation is different. However, if you\u2019re looking to shift some aspect of your business online, we can point out a few different options to consider, depending on your goals.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Start With Your Goals<\/h3>\n

So far, we\u2019ve been focusing on five different goals with our clients:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Being visible and useful to your existing customers and community<\/li>\n
  2. Generating cash flow from a new or revised service<\/li>\n
  3. Generating sales leads online<\/li>\n
  4. Taking orders online<\/li>\n
  5. Selling through marketplaces<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let\u2019s take a quick look at each option.<\/p>\n

    1. Being Visible And Useful <\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is the easiest and lowest cost place to start. Being useful is about understanding your client\u2019s current needs and leveraging your experience and expertise to help them navigate change.<\/p>\n

    The main things to do here include:<\/p>\n

    Reaching out and asking people questions. It could be as easy as calling your clients and checking in on them. You could send out a survey to dig into their needs. You could do some keyword research to look for trends and understand how they are looking for help online.<\/p>\n

    Once you understand their needs, you can curate and share useful 3rd party content or develop original content to help them.<\/p>\n

    Once your content is ready, you need to get it out to your community. The most obvious ways to do this include:<\/p>\n