How to Recession-Proof Your Services by Using Ecommerce

The future for online business models has never looked so bright.

We had a headstart on all the face-to-face service businesses who were forced to adapt to a sustainable online format when the crisis hit. Nielsen’s latest consumer research demonstrates how the pandemic experience has already permanently altered the way we work, think and buy. It is the companies who recession-proof their services through ecommerce today that will thrive in a post-pandemic tomorrow.

My business partner and I found ourselves in this adapt-or-fail position 18 months ago for entirely different reasons. Both military spouses and Creative Strategists, we spent half a decade working together in a creative marketing agency, servicing clients predominantly face-to-face, alongside the challenge of Australian Defence Force postings every two to three years (at least the amount of time it takes to set up an agency in a new location).

As a result, the traditional service model was proving unsustainable alongside a military spouse life, but there were no real alternatives for our industry yet. Physical offices, excess project management hours and face-to-face client handholding was just the way it had always worked.

Having come face-to-face with navigating a major service model pivot to safeguard our business already, we rebuilt our offering as a successful, productised, creative marketing ecommerce platform. Our learnings, teamed with a combined 25 years in strategic marketing equip us with a roadmap for other service providers to do the same.

Re-imagine your services for ecommerce

Rather than managing end-to-end creative campaigns for clients, we repackaged creative campaign concepts into ecommerce solutions that businesses can adapt to their brand. We now coach businesses on how to run purposeful marketing campaigns in Campaign Classroom by way of virtual classrooms.

By removing implementation and project management on behalf of clients, we reduced fees substantially, making us highly competitive in the small business, DIY, and online learning market.

This change allowed us not just to weather today’s conditions, but to see a 65 per cent increase in sales since the start of the COVID-19 crisis in March [2020].

How to get started with an online business — it starts with your purpose

Whilst this situation is about survival, it’s also an opportunity for a do-over; to do things differently and better, whilst also trimming the fat.

When transitioning from physical to digital there are only so many elements from the initial model you can take with you. Focus on the areas that drive profitability, growth, and enjoyment.

Our purpose was to focus on creative concepts, the best part of a Creative Strategist’s role — making marketing more affordable and giving ownership of the campaign implementation to the customer.

We long knew that clients hated paying retainers, but agency service models rely on them to keep the lights on. Something is inherently broken with that model and this shift became an opportunity to provide a next-generation solution.

Get clear on your value proposition

Investing time upfront to carefully consider your value proposition and strategy for scaling will save considerable time and money down the line.

If the goal is a quick transition, now is not the time to attempt a shift into a completely new area of expertise. Stay in your lane and draw on the resources and capabilities you already have to make the switch easier.

The answer to all your prayers is not to copy and paste your formula online. Recession-proofing your services is not about finding ways to keep business operating as-per-usual, by simply replacing your in-person meeting with Zoom consults.

These are short-term solutions that will inevitably fail to deliver a unique customer experience. To truly safeguard, you need to come to the party with a fresh value proposition. Identifying services you can productise is a growth strategy worthy of consideration.

Take Luna, a new-age legal and financial service provider who recently released Stim-Bot; an online chat tool that generates a personalised Grant and Stimulus Eligibility report, covering the Job Keeper Payment, PAYG Cashflow Boost as well as state-based stimulus initiatives. This is useful, personalised and sorely needed.

Foundd Legal, a legal service for creatives and start-ups offers many of its common, entry-level services as fill-in-the-blanks downloadable templates, such as the ‘Influencer Agreement Contract Template’ and the ‘Website Terms and Conditions Template’.

Think like a start-up

No matter how established your service is, you need to be pragmatic.

At the height of the pandemic, fitness provider studios are scrambling to get their classes online, but the reality remains that there was already an established suite of experienced online fitness brands with whom the newcomers are now in direct competition with.

Barre Body was in the fortunate position to have built an online studio when their nine boutique fitness studios had to shut overnight, across Australia. There were already 200 workouts on the platform before COVID-19 and the brand had an established online following.

When COVID-19 hit, the online studio became the brand’s top priority, and all resources needed to be quickly mobilised there. Everything Barre Body does is of an exceptionally high standard, so it’s no surprise they are considered one of the leaders in online, particularly in teacher training.

When the physical studios needed to shut, however, the brand needed to let go of striving for perfection with the online studio offering, opting to deliver fast-tracked solutions to their customers with the ability to continually fine-tune over time, and with real member feedback. In the online world, as soon as something goes live, you’ll want to improve it, so there’s no need to wait for it to be perfect.

Over four weeks Barre Body mobilised their team to deliver a phenomenal online experience. While the bricks and mortar studios have closed, Barre Body’s online studio is experiencing exponential growth, over 400%.

Image courtesy of Barre Body Instagram

Start-ups should look to more grassroots strategies when finding their feet in a new space. They start small, such as focusing on one region or customer segment, before scaling up. Stay nimble and avoid overextending too quickly for risk of being weighed down, or worse, sinking. This was the approach Barre Body took, focusing on what they already did well rather than being tempted to take things in new, unfamiliar directions.

To help get you in the startup mindset, consider stripping your silos, systems, and procedures back to the ground before rebuilding with your new model in mind. Continually question what can be cut-out altogether. Ecommerce moves fast, so there is no time to make decisions by committee (a business strategy we were certainly glad to say goodbye to).

Consider the infrastructure of your ecommerce business

You don’t need to commission a full custom platform development build on your first foray into ecommerce. In fact, don’t bother before trialling an MVP version. Get started with something that allows you to flex with your market. Dip your toe in the water and see what bites so that you can quickly amend your strategy if it’s not quite right. Professionals need to look no further than a templated online platform such as Squarespace for an incredibly professional end-to-end experience, that is both nimble and kitted out.

Ecommerce requires a new set of performance metrics, a lot more granular compared to non-digital businesses. Cart abandonment rate and traffic sources, for instance, help provide a clearer story from which decisions can be based. Lead scores have also been incredibly valuable in determining our warmest prospects.

Automation is your friend, ecommerce-specific CRMs like Drip can do so much of the heavy lifting when it comes to personalising the customer experience using marketing automation.

 Via Squarespace

People for your ecommerce business

The skills needed from your team in the past aren’t necessarily the same as those you’ll need after an ecommerce pivot. This will require a reshuffle at best, and the likely replacement of some roles altogether.

What may have been a minor or secondary responsibility, such as email management or social media, will now be a significant element of your brand and a position that needs greater focus in your overall operations. The idea of onboarding a CX/UI expert, SEO specialist or remote workflow manager for your service brand was probably laughable in 2019, yet the post-pandemic world has made these elements of your service a priority.

It’s important to remember that the true extent of consumer attitude changes is yet to unfold and that ecommerce is a constantly moving target. Beyond technical expertise, soft skills such as adaptability and an aptitude for learning should be a key criterion when recruiting new talent.

Cross-functional teams

Traditional businesses in the service industry operate in silos focused on internal function, but ecommerce requires a distinctly customer-centric approach. To achieve the level of experience to manage online consumer demands, set up cross-functional teams who take responsibility for particular stages of the customer journey, instead of technical department breakdowns.

For instance:

Marketing

This team owns the customer decision journey, from a complete lack of awareness to the moment a client lands on the platform for the first time. This includes strategies for launch, lead generation, nurturing and automation. May include marketers, designers, admin specialists and community outreach, teams.

User experience team

Owns the journey from the moment the client arrives at the online platform through to an order being placed. Monitors pain points and user behaviour to help the entire business make more informed decisions. May include IT, web developers, designers and analysts.

Client service team

Owns any parts of the journey that requires direct interaction with active customers, from when the order is actioned through to when the customer moves on. May include admin specialists, HR sales teams and service consultants.

Marketing your ecommerce business

Transitioning online has the potential to open up a new audience for service-based businesses, but this requires a deep understanding of your most valuable customers to create a blueprint for future targeting.

Throwing money at Google and digital ads before credibility is established is where many brands go wrong. Trying to convert a cold, online audience is futile.

Building trust happens quickly when your business is predominantly face-to-face, but this is not the case with ecommerce. Early marketing efforts should focus on transitioning existing clients to online, generating quality referrals and collecting social proof.

For Barre Body, email marketing had always been important to the business, but it is now one of the primary ways they communicate with and nurture their community. Having stepped up their efforts here they are seeing positive flow-on effects. Communicating openly and regularly with studio clients via email has played a key part in supporting their transition to the online platform.

Social media marketing has always been a key brand engagement channel for Barre Body, and recently it has played a vital role in growing their reach and connecting with members through relatable and humorous content.

Collaborations, PR and user-generated content (UGC) are some of the strategies we deployed at Campaign Del Mar for early-stage success. Same deal for Barre Body, whose Instagram feed is full of members showing off their home studio set-ups in response to a UGC campaign they are running. This has seen Barre Body considerably grow their reach and engagement through priceless social proof.

The first shift to recession-proof your services is unlikely to be the last, so you will quickly find that the biggest change required in your business is cultural. The organisational mindset needs to shift towards one of experimentation, continual improvement and a readiness to adapt. Expect failure and make room for how you’d react to it. It’s just part of the process to help you discard what doesn’t work.

There was no going back for us, and in the wake of an event that has once again reshaped the globe, a return to the traditional service model will be off the table for many others too.

Those companies who introduce long-term solutions now will not only protect themselves against similar vulnerabilities in future, they are likely to thrive in a new age of business.

This article was originally published August 2020 in Entrepreneur's Handbook on Medium.