COVID-19 Pivot Part 3: Adjusting Sales & Marketing Funnels

If you’re anything like most businesses, you have become comfortable in your processes. Most businesses, however, are seeing dramatic shifts in their sales funnels right now. While many are holding on to the hope of normalcy, I propose that nothing will ever be “normal” again. What does this current sea change mean for you and your marketing strategy?

The Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce, Manteno Chamber of Commerce and the Kankakee County Convention & Visitors Bureau are joining chambers and small businesses across the state of Illinois to launch the ‘IL’ove Local campaign to encourage people to support local businesses during the week of April 11 – 18, 2020, led by the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (IACCE).

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s new programs to help businesses stabilize during the COVID-19 pandemic have brought a number of new issues, questions and frustrations to business owners around the country. The programs were being revised almost hourly prior to their recent launch. We break down some of the frequently asked questions about the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) here.

Change is the universe’s default. Progress, at its best, is positive change. As we together weather the unprecedented global reverberations presented by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, subsequent shelter-in-place precautions, and tremendous personal and business losses, it is tempting to abandon the notion of progress. But that would be a tragic mistake.

Business strategy can be a very large and overwhelming topic for small businesses. Many believe their pursuit of survival overwrites the need to consider long-term strategy. While this may have been true in the past, it can no longer be true in the ever-changing economic landscape that we are witnessing today.

The Economic Alliance of Kankakee County is available to coordinate with federal, state and local officials; our workforce, utility, finance and other core partners; our primary employers and small business owners; and prospective investors.

The Economic Alliance of Kankakee County proudly supports Selling Happiness and The Lively One, twin PBS-slated documentaries by acclaimed filmmakers Tom Desch and Pat Wisniewski with Lakeshore Public Media that recount the thrilling story of how Kankakee’s Romy Hammes and his descendants developed new promotional, service and financing models that brought the automobile to the masses in its earliest days of production.

Kankakee County sees opportunity in the growing economic trend of remote workers. Many Chicago-land employees are seeking a reduced cost of living and a more family-friendly area that can be found in Kankakee County by working remotely.