Apptivo – Small Business Planning During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive disruption among small businesses globally, with around 43% of entrepreneurs closing their businesses temporarily. Over 64% are overoptimistic in believing that the crisis is momentary, and they would be able to reopen soon. However, you shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the true survival rates, which, unfortunately, maybe even lower. Due to the reduced revenue churn and the growing ambiguity regarding the future of the global business sector, it can be challenging for most companies to keep their financial wheels turning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Apptivo, we have spent our time working obsessively with entrepreneurs who are building Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and we believe that the next couple of months will be very challenging, and if you are a small business owner, you’re up for an uphill battle. As it is difficult to gauge how long this pandemic will last, it is of utmost importance to develop and implement an emergency recovery plan for business continuity in this time of crisis. During this contagion, you will have to adapt to new tactics and be aware of the following strategies to alleviate the risks and survive the deep and sharp economic downturn.

Analyze Your Financial Fragility

Small businesses are likely to be the worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis, witnessing the most brutal impact as they do not operate with a significant amount of cash reserves. Their financial situation remains highly fluid, and the following months are going to be very cash-strapped, and being an entrepreneur, you have to worry about conserving cash reserves.

The sharp decline in the customer base and broader financial turbulence has introduced an unprecedented complexity in business forecasting. If a traditional financial statement or a balance sheet is the only thing you are looking at to build future plans, you are driving your business forward by looking into the rear-view mirror. Analyzing this data, you will merely be looking at what happened during conventional times, but these are not the normal times, we are not going back to the normal times post this crisis. This is going to be the ‘new normal’ now, and it is critical for you to move into forward-budgeting and forecasting to be able to make adjustments based on what is really happening.

Leverage Your CRM With Financial Analytics

If you’re a small business that is staring down the barrel of your cash runway, it is imperative that you review your overdue debts, and do what you can to get paid as soon as possible. By setting up a payment gateway, Apptivo has made it easier for you to collect money through multiple portals enabling your clients to pay you directly right after receiving the invoice in their email.

It is time to track your current financial metrics and cash flow to revise the sales revenue goals. Apptivo’s Financial Management Applications are integrated with the CRM module to support the conversion of one object to another. The Cash Management App helps you track and maintain all the details related to your company’s bank account. We are all in this together, customers will empathize with you and there is no bitterness in reminding them of delayed payments. Apptivo’s Invoices App helps you create professional invoices and automatically send reminders and get paid faster. The Expense Report is an easy and fast way to track reimbursement expenses that facilitate a quick approval process. The quote management software generates Estimates to help you track sales opportunities by providing proposed sales quotes to your clients without delay.

Revamp Your Sales Strategy

It’s easy to flush your precious marketing money down a black hole. It is time to turn off your traditional marketing strategy and adapt Apptivo’s Email Marketing Campaign to captivate a larger audience in a more personalized way, increasing the conversion rates significantly. Apptivo’s CRM software sends automated emails to target audiences, and identify the potential leads, converting them as sales-inclined customers. Amongst all of this uncertainty, if you are still open for business, make sure your customers know that. Using emails, convey how your product and services might bring them a little bit of relief during these dark times.

Win Your Customers Back

The uncertainty about the length and depth of the public health crisis is fuelling perceptions of risk and adding to market volatility. Apptivo’s CRM software suite has an extensive 360° approach that helps you to analyze the evolving demands of your customers and build highly customized products and services to cater precisely to them.

Audit trailing enables you to track the success of a new product or service. Apptivo’s Help Desk helps you create a great customer experience by automatically addressing customer requests using real-time ticket assignment and tracking. This significantly reduces the downtime in your services and makes them available 24/7, offering quick solutions to your customers’ immediate technical issues.

Conclusion

The challenge for entrepreneurs has been one of implementing strategies that address what had been expected to be a short-term problem. These are very challenging times; we don’t know how long this crisis is going to be here with us; we don’t know the impact or the depth of that impact. If the COVID-19 crisis doesn’t end soon, many small businesses will be closing permanently. We, at Apptivo, have created a business survival tool for you, which is designed to help navigate these uncharted waters. By leveraging CRM software in this challenging time, your company might emerge out with a more robust business model and a clearer vision.