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Tangible Words Provides Recession Proof Education and Training

May 02, 2019 | 4 minute read

“History suggests that an economic downturn lurks somewhere over the horizon.” That’s what David Lipton, the deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, said in December of 2018. Though some financial safeguards were put in place after the financial collapse of 2008, many experts believe that not enough has been done to prevent another recession in the near future.

In fact, recessions are essentially inevitable because the business cycle in a capitalist economy goes through periods of expansion, contraction, and recovery. Enough time has passed since the last recession and the next may be on its way, because of low unemployment and the DOW crash, among other factors.

After marketing, one of the first areas to be cut in a recession is training. But, as you know, good training can help a company weather a recession. After all, mistakes and accidents (that education and training helps prevent) don’t stop with a recession, but they do continue to cost your business in money and time. Training employees makes them feel invested in, which can combat the low morale that comes with a recession.

Tangible Words can help.

Make Recession Proof Education and Training Part of Your Business Plan

All this recession talk might be a little depressing, especially given what we know about the far-reaching consequences of the last collapse: housing prices fell by 31.8 percent, and even two years after the initial collapse, the unemployment rate in the United States stayed above 9%. In many ways, we can still feel the results today.

Luckily, preparation and a level head are key to weathering periods of economic turmoil.

Here Are 5 tips to Help Recession Proof Education and Training:

1. Networking

You know that networking is always helpful for a business, but it becomes especially necessary during hard economic times. When business opportunities are limited and profits are down, you need to be aware of any possible training opportunity that exists. The best way to find new opportunities is to make sure you know the people who need training and that they know you. Inbound marketing is like digital networking: it lets customers know you can help and shows them how to get in contact if they’re interested. Inbound marketing acts as a business card that can talk to customers, answer questions, and duplicate itself. Unless you already have a magic business card, that’s a pretty good deal!

2. Under-Promising and Over-Delivering

Being realistic with the quality training that you can offer during a recession will go a long way toward gaining trust. Over-delivering on your promises will overjoy your customers, and ensure that even with strained wallets, clients will continue coming to you. Delivering high quality education and training that saves money for the client will make it well worth the cost.

3. Improving Communications with Customers

Better communication with customers is always advantageous, but it’s especially helpful during a recession. Try to understand your own weaknesses. There may be reasons your customers cannot commit to repeat business with you during tough economic times. If you talk to your customers, you can answer these questions, and work on a strategy that addresses these issues before the next recession hits. Convince them that better training will save them more money in the long run. Inbound content is designed to keep the conversation going, which will help to solve customer problems.

4. Cutting Expenses

Trimming the fat will help you on the rocky economic road ahead. Doing so now might even lend you some insight into the ways you can recession proof education and training to keep your business viable during a recession. No matter the state of the economy, make sure your goods and services are a necessity. But, even more importantly, make sure you know how to communicate that worth to the customer. You can save money with inbound marketing because content only needs to be written once. After it’s written, blog and email content can be reused over and over again.

5. Don't cut marketing!

We’ve seen it in past recessions. The first department to take a cut is marketing. At first glance this might seem like a logical choice. You might think advertising is not as important as producing the product itself. But that’s not actually the case. In times of economic insecurity, marketing is even more important because you need to target leads more efficiently when customers are afraid to spend money on training. The problem is not necessarily the marketing budget, but how effective your marketing is at converting leads. Consider learning more about inbound marketing, or hiring someone who understands inbound intimately.

Tangible Words is an award-winning inbound marketing agency. By using inbound marketing you can save money and obtain leads with greater efficiency, while spreading your message: education and training isn’t just nice to have during a recession; it’s necessary.