It is often easy to overlook the fact whilst recessions are generally not a good thing, some companies always survive better than others, and some positively thrive on competing in tough market conditions.

Whilst there cannot be any universal formula for success in hard times, one of the common factors found in many such businesses is their acknowledgement of how important it is to both understand and stay close to their customers.

In the last few weeks and months Governor Technology has experienced a marked increase in interest from new and existing clients looking for technology solutions to help them achieve just that.

At one level it is email marketing and online newsletters, of the sort used by companies such as Sopexa UK, a PR agency for the French food and wine industry, or Liverpool Victoria Asset Managment, a major financial institution less impacted than many others of its kind due to its Mutual status.

On another level is it Customer Relationship Management Systems of the sort we have provided for Aston Lloyd, or fully bespoke contact managment solutions such as the one we are currently developing for CSS Partners.

These clients all recognised how important it is for them to keep communicating with their customers in a structured, measurable way.  By doing this a company has the best chance of not just maximising the value of their customers in the short term, but gaining a greater understanding of their needs over the longer term, so that when all this doom and gloom is over, they will be ideally placed to take advantage of a return to more confident spending habits.

Cutting investment in technology during a recession is almost inevitable, but it should never be done at the expense of a continued ability to communicate with and understand one's customers.

It is the companies that continue and even increase their investment in tools to help them develop better relationships with their customers, who are giving themselves the best chance to first survive and then thrive, in the current market and beyond.