What's Your Recession Strategy?
This entry was posted on 5/9/2008 5:02 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Two stories from earlier this week.
I was at a networking meeting where everyone in attendance was expected to stand up and give a commercial that would describe to everybody else in attendance who they're looking to meet. Someone who works in the real estate industry stood up and said, "What I really need is someone to fix this economy!"
I was at a trade show on Wednesday talking with a CEO and asked, "How's business?" He leaned in and whispered, "We're up 48%." Me: "Holy cow!" He then spent the next few minutes telling me all the things that he and his employees started doing months ago to make sure that the economy was an opportunity, not an obstacle.
What's the difference between these two? The first guy blames everyone and everything else except himself for his failure.
He will not accept responsibility. He's a
crappy salesperson. He doesn't differentiate himself. He's got what he's got and may lose it this year because his competition IS working to take his clients away and his reaction is to worry that they're going to.
Meanwhile, the second guy is DRIVING his company and up 48%!
So, what do you think would happen if I asked the first guy if he wanted my help? Would he say, "Yup, I know it's me and I need to change. Here's a pile of money." or would he say, "Bad economy. No sales. Might be going out of business." I'd be tempted to say, "Some people think that might be a good thing." and direct him to
this post.
Remember
this post? Mr. First Guy figures that if he doesn't admit that he's the problem, he's not.
Incidentally, I didn't mean to concentrate totally on the loser, but here's something interesting. The guy that's up 48% and I are gonna be talking shortly. Why? Because he wants more than 48%.
What's your recession strategy. Going out of business sale? or Up 48% isn't enough?
