By Victoria Masterson
HOW can businesses change direction or diversify to help them navigate the Covid crisis?
A caller to the Go Radio Business Show with Hunter & Haughey related their own experience and asked for advice on switching their marketing from businesses to consumers.
Sir Tom Hunter replied: “The great thing I was taught was, learn by doing. Everybody’s on their computer and doing spreadsheets. Just speak to the customers, listen, understand what they want and try it. If it doesn’t work, you’ve learned something. Then try something else and just give it a go. What have you got to lose? It seems to me as if you’ve got a good product, but you’re having to find new markets. So just learn by doing and listen.”
Lord Haughey said: “I had this situation a few years ago, where I had to have a change of direction about how I sold and what market I wanted to sell to. I realised I had to look at how I’d been selling for 30 years, and that this was not the way to do it going forward.”
His solution at the time was to set up business development teams.
“If there’s another company you want to be more like, try and find out what type of structure that they have?” Lord Haughey suggested.
“How do they market their products? And how do they get sales? I would then take that as a template to try and copy.”
The Go Radio Business Show features advice and insight from Sir Tom and Lord Haughey, broadcasting at 11am on Sundays.
The programme also includes high-profile guests from the Scottish business community.
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