Why Tech Is Your Best Bet in a Recession

Hands up if budget decisions at your company are occupying your mind full-time right now.

You're not the only one. 

Caution also looms on the minds of our customers, who are savvier with their spending. We're all just trying to balance the books.

It's a challenging and exhausting job, but it's important to remain optimistic about your company and invest in the areas that will lead to long-term success.

I've always believed in the power and importance of technology and how it can aid us in revealing revenue opportunities, improve efficiency among teams allowing them to do more with less, help our customers and drive expansion.

Speaking of which, technology can allow you to scale up when others are scaling back and removes effort and error for tasks that could — and should — be automated. Who doesn't want to benefit from that? 

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Instead, many of us fall into the trap of a false economy — looking to make apparent financial savings that only lead to more expenses over time. This can harm your workflow, processes, and everything else you've laid out. 

There's a saying of being penny wise and pound foolish, which means being cautious with small amounts of money but wasteful with large amounts. Many companies still find this saying to be true during recessions. 

While some businesses decide to scale back, this is actually the best time for you to engage more with your customers and prospects. Less competition allows you to connect more with them. And with the right technology at your disposal, you can propel your business forward and elevate it in the aftermath of the storm.

In terms of investment, technology may be the best bet. 

Technology enables us to build systems at scale and reduce the human effort required to build things. This ultimately allows us to be smarter with our decisions. 

For example, we've expanded the license on our sales engagement tools so that account executives and BDRs can access the platform. We know everyone can help contribute to the bottom line, so having a platform that everyone can access enables our account executives to run outreach as effectively as our BDRs.

On top of that, we've also invested in solutions for better conversations with prospects and customers, including Coefficient, Pavilion, and Chorus (Zoominfo). 

As a key decision maker regarding budgeting, I've had to ask myself, how can technology better aid our customers and our team? What value can we add through our technology? 

My advice to you is to make sure your teams understand what's happening with their budgets, how you plan to keep your business running during these times, and what goals you want to achieve. And discuss how technology can help you better facilitate this. 

Many SaaS companies like ours are trying to grow — and there's plenty of room to grow. 

However, when you've got investors, and they're looking at the market, they want you to be smart about their money and protect the organization's future. 

Here are my top three recommendations on how to address budgeting concerns:

✅ Don't be afraid to ask critical questions

How can technology better aid our customers and our teams? What value can we add through our technology?

✅ Communicate with your teams

Make sure teams understand what's happening with their budgets. Explain how to keep your business running during these times and what goals you want to achieve. 

✅ Tap into your networks

Many CRO founders and CMOs are experiencing the same thing as you when balancing budgets and investing in the right areas. Reach out to them using your networks or join organizations and talk to them directly. I'm a part of the Pavilion community, which offers peer-to-peer connections, ongoing training and development opportunities to grow in my role, and access to great resources.

To conclude

This economic downturn has so many weird markers that make it hard to predict what will happen next, but most of us know that we need to be smarter about how we spend money and consider what happens when we create false economies.

If you’re wondering how to strategically spend money when everyone is nervous about spending money, hear from our very own CFO, Richard Tieleman, on what he looks for when scrutinizing purchases in these uncertain times.