The year 2020 is dominated in every possible way by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and it's no different in the world of IT companies, which many believed to be 'safe'—the market has seen a 15-20% decline. As revealed, IT companies' revenues have stagnated; one firm, after generating thousands of leads and investing tens of millions of forints, managed to close only four sales.
As discussed in the presentations, individuals confined to voluntary or enforced quarantine have been using social media platforms more actively than ever. The so-called social mediatization that began in the 19th century has evolved in the 21st century to the extent that companies today are judged not necessarily by the value they generate, but by the opinions formed within various user groups—whether professional or general public. The mass opinions formed in such communities determine whether a company is elevated or not. And once a community brands a company negatively, that stigma is hard to erase—often, it isn’t even possible.
A Hungarian company operating on the U.S. market that provides Big Data warehousing shared at the event that, after lead inquiries declined, they pivoted to collecting Covid-19 data to share with clients. However, the results were different than expected... Despite having an extraordinarily high-value (in terms of usefulness) resource on hand during this unique situation, they managed to reach only 10% of their potential customer base—and made no sales. Still, there remains the possibility that after the pandemic subsides, their investment in building the Big Data database will more than pay off.
Despite this, lead generation (building email lists, creating social media groups, community building through various media like blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts) as a marketing and sales tool should not be discarded. As several participants at the IVSZ conference noted, the leads collected now could form a valuable customer base once the economy restarts after the pandemic.
A silver lining mentioned during the conference is that, according to the speakers from attending companies, relatively few project cancellations were reported—most orders placed before the pandemic are continuing as normal. However, few companies can say they have received new orders. One exception is FrontEndART Software Ltd., which has continued to acquire new clients and work at full capacity even during the pandemic—in fact, to handle incoming orders, the company is even considering expanding its workforce!
At the end of the day, the conference confirmed what economists have long suggested: the pandemic's economic impact is unavoidable, declines are occurring and will continue, and non-viable businesses won’t survive long. However, companies that can position themselves well in the current situation, harness the power of community, and build a—currently passive—customer base will be able to survive and even thrive as the economy restarts, potentially rocketing their business forward.