It is necessary to innovate and inspire confidence during a recession, says Srikanth Beldona, Director of Hospitality Graduate Studies and Associate Professor at University of Delaware.

Delivering the BL Club lecture on ‘Marketing financial products during recession’ at the Department of Commerce of Manipal University in Manipal on Tuesday, Beldona said companies should make use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter as Web marketing tools to surmount slowdown.

The lecture series is sponsored by Syndicate Bank.

Beldona said that it is essential to innovate during recessionary times so that the services should be matched to meet the new conditions. Added to this, confidence should be inspired among customers.

Stressing on the need to improve service quality, he said reliability, empathy and responsiveness should be the bywords in this respect.

It is also essential to observe generational shifts during a recession.

Focusing on the need for customer retention during a recession, Beldona said by increasing retention by as little as 5 per cent, some financial firms improved their profits considerably.

Beldona termed recession as a downturn in economic activity, characterised by at least two consecutive quarters of decline in a country’s gross domestic product.

Quoting a study on consumers’ financial behaviour during the 2008 recession, he said consumers are less likely to seek out credit and more likely to hold deposit balances during such a period. They conduct fewer transactions, and are less likely to switch financial institutions unless there are safety concerns over the existing one.

Guruprasad Rao Y, Assistant Professor and Placement Coordinator, Department of Commerce, Manipal University, was present on the occasion.

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