Surviving Recessions

Since I began my career in the early 1980s, I have built three businesses and have endured?and even prospered?during periods of economic contraction. Most people reading this book have also survived tough times before; you simply might have forgotten that you did come through each of them. For instance, I was born during the 1958 recession that lasted two years. I survived it; in fact, I didn?t even know we were having one. I survived another recession from 1960 to 1961 when I was three years old. In 1973, there was an oil crisis that lasted two years, and I worked all through school and during the summers when other people couldn?t get a job. From early 1980 to 1982, the Iranian Revolu- tion caused an increase in the price of oil around the world, leading the country into another recession. Survived it! In the early 1990s, the country experienced another recession that lasted a little over a year that included the housing bust, after which people swore they would never get back into real estate. I survived it. The year 2000, brought the collapse of the dot-com bubble, followed a year later by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, causing tremendous economic fears around the world, especially in the United States. Survived both. This was followed by two years of accounting scandals and another contraction in our economy, which I also made it through. Then, in 2007, the world experienced the start of another major contraction, this time led by the collapse of the housing market, extending to bank collapses in the

United States and Europe. This resulted in bank failures, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and the subsequent failure of entire industries. We will all survive it. The question is can you thrive in it as well?

A recession, by definition, is basically a drop in the gross domestic product of a country over two quarters, or 180 days. Individuals and companies cannot actually experi- ence a recession per se since they don?t have gross domestic product. However, they can certainly experience the effects of recessions, and the degree to which they make or refuse to make adjustments will determine how well they endure it. I say all of this to give you encouragement and to remind you that you have survived, can survive, and will survive any economic contraction. But I do want to show you how to advance, conquer, and seize market share during these times.

While I would prefer to experience economic expan- sion, of course, the reality is that I have always done bet- ter during periods of contraction?as funny as that might seem. It?s a bit of an odd phenomenon, but some people actually perform better when challenged because it triggers their need to survive and stimulates higher levels of perfor- mance. This in turn causes them to become more creative in the marketplace and more productive when others are throwing in the towel. So don?t be hopeless. Contractions are not the end of the world; you can succeed regardless of the state of the economy.

Understand as well that economic contractions don?t last forever. Those who don?t quit but instead dig in and

get through them will come out the other side with a better work ethic, an increased customer base, and a bigger piece of the market. And survivors are instilled with the confidence that they can prosper, regardless of the conditions in which they?re doing business. So don?t throw in the towel. Under- stand that you have a choice in what you do to counter a pullback. You don?t have to suffer the financial consequences others will experience if you act intelligently.

I live by the following motto: ?Problems are opportu- nities, and conquered opportunities equal money earned.? Remember that when you face a problem, it?s an opportunity in disguise. Stay in the game, push forward, never retreat? and look for creative ways to solve your problems. A situation you?re able to overcome won?t even look like a problem later; you?ll simply recall a situation that just needed to be handled properly. Unfortunately, people who pull back and retreat to the point that they almost disappear during economic down- turns won?t remember problems this way. They respond in a habitually negative way and become overwhelmed to the point that they?re essentially blind to prospects and solu- tions. When the market recovers, these individuals will have less money and fewer clients and will be forgotten by the marketplace, leaving their business and identity damaged. Your great advantage in this market is that less competition gives you the chance to stand out and capture market share.

What follows in this book are the tactics that you must use to ensure that your business grows, survives, and prospers during all times but especially during economic contractions. These are proven techniques that, when used

exactly, will get you results. They are tried, true, tested, accurate, and precise formulas that will make your goals a reality. I encourage you to use them exactly as detailed and avoid being ?reasonable? when you do.

Reason means proper exercise of the mind, sanity, the sum of the intellectual powers, and the possession of sound judgment. Being unreasonable here means that you won?t allow yourself to be governed by or act according to reason. I don?t want you to use your intellectual powers to make sense of this; after all, the world is filled with intelligent people who never do anything significant. Instead, I want you to operate as though you are without reason, without judgment?more like a madman or madwoman whose only goal is to make things happen. Do not reason witft tftese actions; just take tftem. Do not apply your common sense when employing them. Use them in exactly the way I state them here. The biggest mistake you can make in using these techniques is to attempt to make them fit your personality or mind-set. Do not alter the actions in any way; you?ll just end up with a watered-down version of what works.

Just last week I was working with a company and we identified an action of following up with customers that their competition would not employ. I suggested that the company follow up with customers as soon as the customer left rather than later in the day and even suggested that the salespeople follow customers home. Sounds crazy doesn?t it? The management in this company protested, ?There is no way this technique will work with our product or our customer demographic.? I pleaded with the managers to

just trust me and use the technique, and within 24 hours, they had contacted my office claiming, ?Not only did it work, but our customers loved it!? The company was revi- talized with new ways to expand into the marketplace. Now before you completely dismiss my actions as unworkable understand that your response alone means that others will not employ them either, which means those that take this action will no longer be competing but doing something completely different. At times like these you don?t want to compete, you want to beat!

While these techniques should be applied to your mar- keting and selling efforts in all economic climates, you will find these are the type of strategies and thinking to get you through periods of contraction. This is where we are only thinking in terms of expansion and willing to try anything, even break agreed upon norms in order to grab business. And before you start thinking you are violating customer satisfaction with these actions know that same company experienced the highest customer satisfaction scores their company had ever attained. Customers were saying, ?We have never had a company who had been willing to do more to earn our business.? This way of thinking and these actions are for those who refuse to have their families, busi- nesses, and financial futures put at risk?and are willing to do whatever it takes to be first. Trust me on this, and I assure you that you will be rewarded with success. I look forward to hearing about your journey to first and how much suc- cess you receive from the implementation of these powerful and effective recession-fighting techniques.

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Date: 2016-06-12; view: 108