Do More With Less In The Wake Of Economic Uncertainty

Amidst this economic uncertainty, leaders face a tough challenge: how to do more with less. Interest rates have climbed, credit continues to be tight, and both consumers and small businesses are spending less. Banks are highly leveraged and the ripple effects are hitting companies of all sizes. As organizations navigate these turbulent waters, keeping a steady hand on the wheel is important. The winners and losers of this period will be separated by one crucial factor: Focus.

How to do more with less

It can be tough to focus on the right things when it feels like everything is in flux. But it's crucial to zero in on what matters most to keep your business afloat and your customers happy. Here’s some advice on how to do more with less and focus your attention on what will keep your business moving forward.

1. Focus on Increasing Value for Existing Customers

Focus on increasing the value you're providing to your existing customers. That will likely lead to attracting more customers, but more importantly, you will preserve what you already have. Don’t be afraid to spend lots of money here. It’s usually cheaper to keep/expand a client than it is to acquire a new one.

If you can stay alive during the bad times, you'll be the first mover when the good times roll back around. Strengthening your relationship with customers and delivering exceptional value should be the top priority. You want your value to be so strong that customers can't imagine operating without your products/services. To do so…

Understand Customer Pain Points Better Than Anyone

Engage deeply with your customers to identify their biggest challenges. What problems keep them up at night? How can your product alleviate their stress and solve their issues? Knowing their pain points helps you build products that solve their direct problems.

- Talk to them directly through interviews and surveys, and ask open-ended questions that encourage honest feedback.

- Analyze support tickets and complaints to uncover recurring issues and unmet needs.

- Check usage data for slowdowns or drop-offs that indicate frustration. You can even go as far as to pay attention to customer conversations on social media to identify emerging trends.

When you understand what keeps your customers up at night, you'll be able to offer the solutions they desperately need.

Tailor your Product Offerings

Are you offering the right features to the right customers? Tailoring your product to different customer segments maximizes the value they receive.

- Segment your customer base by industry, company size, or user behavior, and create modular packages that let customers choose features that best fit their needs.

- Personalize features and services for specific segments to boost engagement and satisfaction.

- Regularly review and update your packages based on customer feedback and evolving needs.

This way, you ensure that every customer gets the maximum value from your product and stays loyal.

Demonstrate ROI

Can your customers see the value they're getting from your product? Demonstrating ROI is important, especially when budgets are tight.

- Share case studies and testimonials that show how your product has helped similar customers achieve their goals.

- Design ROI calculators or reports showcasing cost savings and efficiency gains, emphasizing key success metrics demonstrating your product's value delivery.

- Schedule regular check-ins to review progress and uncover new ways to maximize ROI.

Showing tangible results builds trust and solidifies your relationship with your customers.

2. Tighten the Belt Everywhere Else

When resources are stretched thin, every dollar counts. Tightening the belt doesn't mean compromising on quality but rather being strategic about where your money goes. Here’s how you can maximize your resources without jeopardizing customer value:

Cut Risky Investments

Avoid speculative investments that don’t directly support core objectives. Review your current projects and evaluate which ones carry the most risk. Are they aligned with your immediate goals, or do they represent unnecessary distractions? For example, if a team is investing heavily in untested AI features just to say they have Generative AI, their priorities are not aligned with the current economic circumstance. Instead, they should consider reallocating resources to improve existing, revenue-generating products. Prioritize initiatives that offer immediate or proven returns and put ambitious but risky projects on hold until conditions improve.

Negotiate Terms With Vendors

Re-negotiating contracts with vendors can free up significant resources. Review all existing contracts, from software licenses to cloud storage, and identify cost-saving opportunities. Approach vendors to negotiate better terms, such as volume-based discounts or alternative pricing structures. For example, if your company has multiple SaaS subscriptions, consolidating them with one provider can often lead to savings. Vendors want to keep your business, so use this leverage to negotiate deals that align with your budget.

Maximize Existing Talent

With hiring freezes and budget constraints, making the most of your existing talent is more important than ever. Encourage cross-functional collaboration to promote knowledge sharing and boost productivity. Recognize and reward top performers to keep morale high and give your team the freedom to streamline their own work. Identify skill gaps within your team and close them with a Co-dev coaching program. Co-dev coaching can help because experienced software coaches work directly with your team to enhance their skills and deliver software. Although it is an initial investment, the return is a team that is autonomous and skilled at delivering value. By coaching and encouraging your team, you can do more with less and keep everyone motivated.

3. Make Software Teams Your Value Drivers

Your software teams must focus on the specific outcomes your customers seek. To get the most out of them, make sure they're focused on what matters most and working together efficiently.

Align Teams with Business Value

Make sure your team clearly understands the business goals and how their projects contribute. Share your company's vision, objectives, and customer needs, and connect their tasks to these goals. For example, if customer retention is a priority, highlight how improving a feature directly impacts retention rates. Regularly review team priorities to ensure they're aligned with business goals. By giving them this context, they'll feel more connected to the company's success and focus on what really matters.

Stop Focusing on Outputs

Don't just crank out work for the sake of it; instead, focus on outcomes that matter, like improving customer satisfaction by 20% next quarter. Stay flexible about how you achieve that goal. Maybe you plan to upgrade your customer support software, but once your team digs into it, you might find it's smarter to switch to an off-the-shelf solution.

Use your team's problem-solving skills to get more value out of them. If you give them exact instructions on how to do everything, you'll miss out on their creative solutions. Keep the target clear, but let them figure out the best way to get there.

Breakdown Team Silos

Silos can lead to miscommunication and prevent teams from sharing valuable insights. Encourage collaboration by organizing cross-team projects or holding regular knowledge-sharing sessions. For example, bring your product, engineering, and marketing teams together to brainstorm new features that meet customer needs. Foster a culture where feedback and ideas flow freely between teams. When everyone works together, you can solve problems faster and come up with innovative solutions that benefit the entire company.

TLDR

Doing more with less allows you to be intentional with your resources and align your efforts with what matters most. With a clear focus, your business can emerge stronger and more resilient than ever.

By investing in creating more customer value and tightening the belt elsewhere, organizations can emerge stronger from this period of disruption. Focus will be the defining factor between those who win and those who flounder. Don't waste time making risky bets. Instead, fortify your existing customer relationships and empower your software teams to deliver value like never before. It's not just about surviving the storm; it's about thriving in it.