In today's economy, many of us in business demonstrate hope and look forward to the opportunities that the market will bring. In a downturn, we remember that people still need to purchase products and services; however, many people will be looking for added value to their purchase.

Now is an excellent time to differentiate yourself and your business. Now is also an excellent time to create deals that benefit both your customers and your company.

For example, in my web design business, we serve women entrepreneurs and progressive organizations, many of whom are undercapitalized when they get started but as they build their business and base, they grow and have access to more cash flow. We've addressed this in two ways: one is by creating a pared-down version of the website we install, and another is by extending our payment plans to assist the company so that as they grow, they're in a better position to make payments.

It's our belief that our product (website design and development) directly contributes to our customer's bottom line: so if we do a good job, our customers do a good job. We've seen time and time again that this works well for all parties, so all the hard work we've put into research and development is starting to pay off in terms of a viable, valuable, and classic product that benefits our clients and benefits us.

What is your "big picture?" If you're committed to your business, now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to work smarter and think quicker. What opportunities surround you? What needs do your current customers have? How will you solve their pain?

Most of our customers come to us because:
1) they can't update their website pages easily
2) their site isn't being found by any of their potential customers
3) people who do come to the site aren't converting into supporters, customers, etc.
4) they have staff using precious person-hours dealing with paper or phone support that is better handled by interactive forms, applications, or online FAQs.
5) they just need to get current

We solve these issues with specific packages.

What are the issues that your customers are coming to you with? What types of needs are you hearing over and over again? What is your existing or potential clients' situations? How does your business support them in their efforts to have a better life, do their job more efficiently, make more money, or have more time?

Customers choose you because you differentiate your company from all the others. The more your company develops valuable solutions, the more customers you'll be able to serve. Use your big-picture thinking to identify how to bring potential solutions to the marketplace.