Turn lemons into champagne

In a down economy, fight the temptation to accept the "circle the wagons" mentality. It is understandable but not always productive. It may allow you to weather the storm but it will not distinguish you from your competition or position you for long term success. It is fundamentally reactive and defensive. As an alternative, consider opening your offensive playbook for ideas on transforming the downturn into a strategic opportunity. Here are some offensive "plays" that may help you to regain the initiative.

Play #1: Focus on the Other Guys

Obviously, you're not alone. Everyone that you deal with, including your customers, employees, competitors and suppliers, is facing many of the same challenges. Most of them are probably in the "defensive" position described above. They are seeking guidance, leadership and certainty. They are probably reluctant to make long-term commitments. They are likely to have reduced expectations of acceptable performance in areas like profitability and sales growth.

By looking at the recession through their eyes, you have an opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage over those who are obsessed with their own condition.

For example, consider the following possibilities for exploiting this anxiety:

• Commit to sustained and improved customer service. Businesses typically react to an economic downturn by reducing inventory and /or cutting staff. Both can have a major negative impact on customer service. If your competitors are taking this approach, you have a golden opportunity to gain market share and maintain sales volume.
• Add some new product lines. This is an ideal time to revisit your product portfolio. The world's economy has changed forever.Are you prepared to provide the tools your customers will need when the economic pendulum swings back? Can you add branches to your product tree while maintaining profitability? Should you? Might be time to survey your customers. Let them tell you what they need.
  

These examples are intended as food for thought; they may or may not be appropriate for your company. I suggest a brainstorming session to discover appropriate actions based on your own specific situation. List the recessionary effects that you think your partners are experiencing and then try to identify actions that you can take to exploit each one.

You will come through this. We all will.

Until next time..

The Agile One