How to Prepare for a Recession by Denise Lee Yohn

Introduction

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Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies.

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Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.
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For any other purpose to fulfilll our legitimate interests or with your consent.

For more information, see International Data Transfers

When you use the Website and provide information to Company through the Website, your information may be transferred to a destination outside your jurisdiction, including to the United States. The United States has not received a finding of “adequacy” from the European Union under Article 45 of the GDPR. Company has executed agreements between its affiliates and subsidiaries in accordance with Article 46 of the GDPR. Company also relies on derogations for specific situations set forth in Article 49 of the GDPR in order to transfer personal information across international borders outside of Company, its affiliates, and subsidiaries. In particular, Company transfers personal information across international borders only: with your consent; to perform a contract with you; or to fulfill a compelling legitimate interest of Company in a manner that does not outweigh your rights and freedoms.

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information.

Disclosure of Your Information

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We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:

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We may also disclose your personal information:

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International Data Transfers

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us. We have created mechanisms to provide you with the following control over your information:

Tracking Technologies and Advertising. Our website does not respond to “Do Not Track” signals. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. To learn how you can manage your Flash cookie settings, visit the Flash player settings page on Adobe’s website. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this site may then be inaccessible or not function properly.
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We do not control third parties’ collection or use of your information to serve interest-based advertising. However, these third parties may provide you with ways to choose not to have your information collected or used in this way. You can opt out of receiving targeted ads from members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) on the NAI’s website: https://www.networkadvertising.org/.

Your Rights

To the extent required by law, Company provides you with (i) reasonable access to the personal information collected through the Website, and (ii) the ability to review, correct, export, and delete such personal information. Please contact us using any of the methods identified in the “Contact Information” section if you would like to exercise your individual rights and for information on any fee required to obtain copies of your personal information. We may need to obtain or confirm certain personal information in order to accommodate your request. We will not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

Your California Privacy Rights

California Civil Code Section § 1798.83 permits users of our Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to Privacy@gravityspeakers.com or write us at: 570 El Camino Real, #150-250, Redwood City, CA 94063, Attn: General Counsel.

Data Security

We use commercially reasonable measures to secure information collected through the Website. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

We retain your information for as long as needed: (i) to conduct business with you; (ii) as needed for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy; (iii) as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce any agreements.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page with a notice that the privacy policy has been updated on the Website home page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email to the email address provided by you or through a notice on the Website home page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

Contact Information

To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at:

570 El Camino Real, #150-250, Redwood City, CA 94063, Attn: General Counsel

Email: Privacy@gravityspeakers.com

European Union: Company’s Data Protection Officer is Nausheen Razzak, and can be contacted using the information above. You can request copies of Company’s GDPR Article 46 agreements from the Data Protection Officer. Please contact the Data Protection Officer if you believe Company has processed your information in a manner inconsistent with your privacy rights. You also have the right to contact a supervisory authority if you believe Company has processed your information in a manner inconsistent with your privacy rights.

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How to Prepare for a Recession by Denise Lee Yohn

December 15, 2021 10:12 PM

Featured Author:

Denise Lee Yohn

Let’s face it – we’re headed toward an official recession. It’s a different kind of recession – one that was produced on purpose instead of experienced by accident. But it’s a recession nonetheless. And with unemployment claims at their highest level since the Labor Department started tracking the data in 1967 and projections from the medical field that prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022, it’s likely the economy will be disrupted for quite awhile. What should you do to prepare your business?

Here are three strategies to prepare for a recession:

1) Make your core customers your priority.

When you start to bleed revenue, you may be tempted to try to offer as many things to as many customers as possible so that you don’t miss out on any potential source of income. But you must actually do the exact opposite.

Now is the time to allocate and spend your resources with laser-like precision. You need to focus your efforts on deepening relationships with your most profitable customers and those who are likely to stay the most loyal to you through the recession. You just can’t afford to spread your time, money, and attention over uncertain or unfounded leads and opportunities.

So identify who your core customers are and what they really need and want now. Figure out how the pandemic has changed their needs and expectations and how that might affect how you engage and communicate with them and what you offer to them.

Consider creating at least one new offering for your core customers. Make it something extraordinary that delivers some form of unique value – and then go all-in on delivering it. Be generous -- offer extended service hours and terms, provide added value services at no charge, extend guarantees and payment rates, etc. Try to do more for your key customers than anyone else does, more than what you’ve done in the past, more than even what they’re expecting. The more you demonstrate your commitment to them, the more likely they are to reciprocate.

Of course, you can’t do this for everyone without adding further strain on your economics, so the key is to focus on which customers are most important to your future – and let everyone else get in line behind them.

2) Increase your brand differentiation.

During recessions, customers tend to become more price sensitive, so you should get out in front of that trend and try to offset the price comparisons customers will be making between you and your competitors. You don’t want to have to resort to price decreases or promotions to try to keep or attract customers.

Make sure your core customers see your brand as clearly different and more valuable than your competitors’. You don’t want to be perceived as simply better than others. “Better” does not create a sustainable competitive advantage because one-upmanship among industry players usually leads to commoditization as everyone ends up doing the same things. Moreover, better is subjective, whereas different can be substantiated.

So, communicate your uniqueness clearly – and as much as possible, increase your differentiation through new features, new offerings, even new modalities.

3) Use your brand to engage employees.

Although employee engagement is important at all times, it becomes mission critical during periods of economic contraction. Employees may experience personal financial instability which can prompt attrition and increased turnover. You may have to ask employees to do more with less and/or to accept fewer financial rewards or lessened compensation. If you have to conduct layoffs, workplace morale can suffer.

All of this means you must inspire and motivate in meaningful ways. Your brand can be a powerful tool for doing so.

Your brand should embody and express your company’s overarching purpose, so use it to connect employees to that mission and help them derive meaning from their work. Remind employees why your organization exists and ensure your employees understand how their specific work contributes to that mission. This is always a key leadership responsibility but it’s critical now that you connect the dots so that your people know that they matter, especially if you’ve had to lay off or furlough employees. In these challenging times, your people need a compelling reason to get out of bed, put aside their fears, and make their best effort even.

Your brand can also connect employees to customers. Your brand is about the value and the customer experience you deliver to customers, so use it to keep your customers top-of-mind. Share stories of how your brand continues to serve customers and how you create value for them in new and different ways during the crisis. Share feedback from customers about exceptional experiences that they’ve received from your employees. Make a human connection by spotlighting who your key customers are and why they say they choose your brand over others.

And use your brand to connect employees to each other. Enable employees to share stories and encourage each other as they work together to interpret and reinforce your brand. Remind them of great moments when employees came together to overcome past challenges or how employees are currently working together to continue to build your brand. Enable people to recognize co-workers who demonstrate your core values in extraordinary ways in these extraordinary times.

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These three strategies to prepare for a recession will inoculate your organization from the worst effects of the downturn – and can actually set up your business to thrive and grow.

Denise Lee Yohn How To Prepare for a Recession Author Image

Denise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand keynote speaker and consultant, and an influential writer. She is the author of the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest and FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies. Leading Through Challenge & Change, Cultivating Culture & Building Brand In Crisis, and Lead Your Field: Establish Competitive Advantage are just a few of Denise’s timely topics.

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Featured Author

Denise Lee Yohn

Denise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand speaker and consultant, and an influential writer, authoring the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest.

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