The days since the result of the referendum on the European Union became known have been unlike any I can remember in the UK. The initial euphoria felt by the Leave voters has changed to confusion on all sides as many of the key players have left the battlefield, and it is now unclear when, or even if, the UK will actually leave the EU. There is a palpable sense in the UK that, in the short term at least, nobody is steering the ship. Uncertainty is all around, and this makes it the worst possible environment to try to conduct business. So what should owner-managers do?Well, the good news is that we have been somewhere a bit like this before, and in many ways our past experience was more challenging than this one. The financial crisis of 2007-08 presented a challenge of a similar nature; some might say with a gloomier prospect. So we can draw on our experiences there to help us set our businesses up to succeed now.
Those experiences tell us a number of things:
This last point is vital and links closely to the second point about loving your customers. A digital approach makes it possible for us to understand the individual needs of each customer better, and so tune our engagement to suit their needs better.
Over time, we can see from their interactions with our website and our other material what their interests are, and we can make sure we tailor our communications accordingly. Our digital channels, such as Inbound Marketing and social media, become new ways for us to listen to our customers, and share information with them. The beauty of the digital approach is that success there is more about original thinking than it is about big budgets.
Finally, keep an eye on a rapidly changing world. The picture is changing daily, if not hourly. We know we can cope with the worst case, and by following the best practice above, we will be in great shape for when the picture becomes clearer.
Update: In the 48 hours since I wrote this piece, the picture has become clearer in that we now have a designated new Prime Minister in Theresa May. However, short term uncertainty remains, and the rules above still apply.