Four Ways To Gain Market Share Despite Calamity

Are there alarm bells going off in your business that you are choosing to ignore?

Remember Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which devasted the Gulf Coast? Prior to the devastation, scientists warned what the fatal consequences would be if the levees failed during a storm surge. Prior to the mortgage meltdown of 2007-2008, many bank regulators and elected officials sounded the alarm about an impending economic disaster.

Before he was arrested in 2008, the immeasurable damage caused by Bernie Madoff’s $18 million Ponzi scheme could have been avoided if the SEC heeded the detailed memos submitted for 10 years by one financial advisor. Even the global pandemic that began in 2019 was predicted by numerous experts, including none other than Bill Gates in a prophetic TED talk.

Many business leaders are like the hotel guest who ignores the fire alarm until security comes banging on the door (this actually happened to the CEO of the WD-40 Company).

Business owners need to get in front of calamity and even grab market share during the disruption. That’s the advice of author Lisa Apolinski, CEO of 3 Dog Write, Inc., a full-service digital consulting agency she founded in 2012. She works with Fortune 1,000 companies that want to accelerate revenue and take market share using digital means. (We met when she asked for help editing her first book on protecting your digital assets.)

In the last ten years, Apolinski has helped her clients create nearly $1 billion in revenue growth. She works with household name brands such as one of the top five banks, one of the top five wealth management and financial services firms and a billion-dollar Japanese electronics organization.

Here are her four areas to study to bullet-proof your business, even from the next horrible business calamity:

Examine Economic Conditions Affecting Unrelated Industries. Industries that are unrelated to your organization at first glance may seem to be irrelevant. However, stress on one sector may have a cascading effect on another. Review the global news trends: “Keeping abreast of global news trends can give you a clue to what is transpiring, and what the ripple effect may be in your industry,” says Apolinski. Examine public policy chatter: “If you are not keeping tabs on changes in public policy, there may be legislation that will change tax laws, labor laws or financing options,” adds Apolinski.

Study Economic Conditions Affecting Your Company And Competitors. The last crucial area reviews how the current condition is affecting both you and your competitors. By being aware of the actions taken by any competition, your organization can either adopt a similar strategy, modify the strategy, or go in a different way entirely. Review competitor digital communication: “While a competitor analysis and review should be a standard practice in your digital communication strategy, this review becomes even more important when there is a sudden and severe change,” says Apolinski.

Review Economic Conditions Affecting Tangential Industries And Vendors. Looking at adjacent industries and vendors can help to assess how widespread the economic condition is, how quickly the condition may impact your organization, and what effect any supply-chain disruption may have on both adjacent industries and your industry. Review media mentions: Have there been media reports on other industries that are related to yours? What is being said about those industries? To track media mentions, set up Google alerts on adjacent industries, including key business players that lead the industry in terms of trends and overall health. Review emails: Are you starting to receive emails from your supply chain, or from companies in the same economic circle, encouraging you to “keep calm,” or to show solidarity?

Scrutinize Economic Conditions Affecting Your Customer. “Before looking at your company’s position in the economy, it is important to look at what effects the current economic conditions are having on your customer base,” says Apolinski. Review this data website traffic: Is website traffic increasing or decreasing? Is traffic coming from other geographical areas? Are you seeing different website patterns, for instance, different pages being reviewed?

“Instead of guessing or seeing how things play out, use data to give your organization the best chance of success and potentially gaining market share, even while other companies struggle,” says Apolinski.