1. Importance of the Last Mile

Over the past few years, we have seen how fragile the supply chain is and how quickly it can come undone. To avoid this issue, you must secure your supply chain and ensure that you have a seamless and consistent delivery process. Fast, consistent delivery and a transparent supply chain have become the standard and anything less will upset customers and put you behind competitors. You need to diversify your supply chain when partnering with distributors and logistics service providers to increase success and avoid situations where your entire transportation network can fall apart over one disruption.

2. Finding New Business

“We have enough clients” or “We’re happy with what we have” are nice sentiments, yet they are a recipe for disaster. The last few years have been incredibly volatile and have shown us how quickly a ‘sure thing’ can fall apart. Much like the supply chain, you must continue to invest in diversifying your client base. Keep looking for large customers; however, be sure to go after some smaller ones as well. These businesses can fill in gaps and can keep you afloat if a big account ever falls through. Always make a push to acquire new business and be ready to scale up production should you hit capacity.

3. Gather Intelligence

We live in the information age and you need to be tapped into your customers’ behaviors. It can be easy to just make changes based on what customers are telling you, yet you need be able to see what they are not telling you as well. Data is king and knowing the ins and out of your customer’s habits and how your product fits into their life is essential to success. Collecting and analyzing this kind of consumer data should be a top priority. Data can direct everything from product design and formulation to final price point. As you acquire more information, your conclusions will change, and you need to have a system in place to pivot as the year progresses. Your competitors are using these insights to their advantage and if you won’t do the same, then your customers will become their customers.

4. Technology

New technology is both trendy and fickle. You don’t need to put yourself into every new tech that pops up, although it is a good idea to test some of these trends and gauge your consumers interests. Customers and clients like trying new things and even if NFTs, holograms, or the metaverse don’t become a staple of your products, they can still be used to draw interest and increase branding. Some of these technology trends stick around for quite awhile and you don’t want to be behind on the chance that they become permanent fixtures.

5. Active Marketing

Our previous points have outlined the importance of being proactive and that is most evident in active marketing. The last few years have been tough on everyone and has resulted in a busier playing field and fiercer competition. You need to stand out and active marketing is the way. Use a multichannel approach that can target key account broadly while making content hyper personalized using emails, phone calls, and social media. It can be a difficult task to accomplish, although as we said earlier, data is king, and with the right data and implementation you can rise above your competition. You can’t rest on your laurels when it comes to marketing, if you don’t go after your buyers and decision makers, someone else will.