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From Crisis to Recession
It seems that the Virus Crisis, with its vaccines, is coming to an end, with the economic recession already around the corner, until all economic sectors are back to full throttle again.
With all the recent analysis from Deloitte, McKinsey, BCG, FMI, and OCDE referring that we only start to see some economic recovery from the last quarter of this year, we only have 9 to 10 months to put ourselves in the frontline of our industry, regaining or to consolidate our position in the marketplace, against all odds. It´s now critical, during these next months, that you set up a winning mindset to keep at least afloat and be able to perceive and collect all benefits that are always inside a recession. To do that you need:
- Reduce the amount of general news you consume as they tend to be more negative than positive. Remember: good news don’t buy audiences;
- Do NOT cut back your marketing budget. If you can, increase it. Remember: playing it safe will take you inside the herd and there, you become irrelevant;
- Follow up with the negative thinking peers in your industry. If they are scared and afraid, they are allowing YOU to take over the field they are leaving behind. Remember: a client without service it’s not lost, it’s open to change the provider.
We can increase our level of success if we never let down the service level to existing or new clients. Consider even increasing it as this will be the difference between gaining new clients from the competition or losing them forever. They, like you, are going through uncertain times, needing and appreciating assurance and confidence. The cost of poor service is too high to accept and you should not be afraid to go the extra mile to do the difference.
When it comes to marketing, this will not only secure your current clients but will also put you in front of new ones.
Don’t be afraid to innovate here, or to invest in quality content, positive thinking, and client care.
This recession will go away as well as your peers that will follow the negative trend and fail to innovate and secure their market share.
If needed, re-invent yourself without losing sight of your current client base. They are already familiar with you, right? So, what do you have to lose?
Also, don’t be afraid to look inside your own organization to find and correct the less committed with your own survival and success.
This is a great time to do it.
Remember: attitude is key, skills can be trained.
Do it right! Do it well!
If needed, think again!
Thriving through uncertain times
Many are the articles, posts, comments, and other interventions all over social media, TV, magazines, newspapers, and other forums about the current crisis, by opinionmakers from all walks of life, experience, and more or less legitimate backgrounds.
However, we like facts and, when assumptions, that they are based on robust and consistent arguments.
We are facing a crisis without precedent, no doubt about it. But, as in all crises before and after this one, it’s not only the crisis that has an impact on the businesses.
Crisis, at the same time, bring to the spotlight hidden problems companies and organizations usually have that impact business more than the crisis in itself: Management fragilities, bad decisions or based on insufficient or no information at all, lack of structure, organizational problems, deficient businesses models, among others.
Everybody’s also talking about the crisis as a source of business opportunities for new or re-invented businesses, distribution models, and new ways of reaching the paying client, if not for success, at least to keep afloat.
Mutatis Mutandis, this is old news and, as a matter of fact, no news at all, except to spread some optimism to society at large, minimizing the fear effect that’s over everybody’s head.
I truly believe the real opportunities crisis can promote are two and interconnected. As usual in an open market economy:
- Darwinism: It cleans the market of the feeble and week, unable to adapt and thrive, at the same time that exposes the truly strong and capable;
- Evolutionism: It gives room for companies with visionary leadership and a flexible structure as well as market-oriented business models to quickly reinvent themselves, adapts to new circumstances, adjusts processes and strategies, to conquer the empty ground left behind by the previous ones.
We are seeing this happen even in strongly impacted sectors by this crisis like hospitality, aviation, and tourism.
What are you going to do to take care of your business, get back on track, to fulfill the gap others are creating in the marketplace? What’s your excuse?
The International Mindset
Pains and Gains of thinking internationally
(Sharing with you my presentation in the Get In The Ring Global Meetup 2018)
The Lego dilemma: How to be global without losing local connectivity?
– Very few rules and processes
– Simply organized and communicated around a common ground accepted and recognized by all parts involved with room for local “imagination” to grow and thrive: – The Lego brick!
We will be talking about 7 major key points, or principles, that my experience on the field identified as instrumental to be successful in an international environment:
1 – CHANGE THE MINDSET
– Give up control and centralized decision making
– Identify and Manage the essentials, the key aspects of shared culture and values
– Accept flexibility on the ground, but always around key elements that make it possible to recognize the original idea
2 – EVOLVE
– Be ready to Adapt, Adopt and, therefore, Evolve
– Keeping the focus on essentials and key patterns recognized everywhere by everyone
3 – OPEN UP
– Speak a Common Language: But adapt it to local dialects
– Integrate and Share: Solutions found in a particular context or geography can be easily adapted at large, if translated (adapted) to the local needs, without losing identity
– Spread the Word: Allow imagination, but with the “brick”. Make contextualization the globalization concept
4 – LIVE BY THE RULES
– This is Key: the “Brick” is the rule!
– In some countries, they use some brick formats and not others, some colors and not others. Imagination rules when it comes to using the brick
– This way the entire business will be interconnected and integrated
5 – BUY-IN
– Each country or Business Unit should be responsible for its own P&L and collaborate defining it
– Without local responsibility and rewards, no commitment is achieved
– If not, your “disconnecting” the bricks
6 – INTEGRATION
– Keep alert and identify common, structural aspects of the business
– This will be the common ground for understanding and manage diversity
– It may be complex, but must not be complicated
7 – BE FLEXIBLE
– Draw the Business map and draw it again
– Build to change, not to last – “bricks” will come and go and patterns will change, be refined, and expanded
– Eventually, Growth will be incremental, not only because it will support itself but because it should be based on learning from successes and the unavoidable mistakes
Strategy: Budgeting or Planning?
Strategic Planning entered the jargon of managers as if something very complex, intricate, and only accessible to a few.
But if we are paying attention, we can see that’s not the case.
Some literature defines Planning as having four very characteristic stages, sequential and unable to “leap” from one to another during the evolution process.
First Stage: It’s determined by the financial planning and you will find this in every single company, regardless of size and complexity. It is the process of defining the annual budget and the base for the company’s, business unit, or department performance assessment.
Second Stage: It happens when the definition of the annual budget goes beyond the current year, including provisions for two or more years based on the current plan as defined in the previous stage. Here you will find not even the majority of companies
Third Stage: This one already has some Strategic Planning characteristics in the sense that the planning’s already seriously oriented by market trend analysis, clients, and competition. This planning already considers a set of external factors as essential to defining its position in the medium and long term.
Fourth Stage: If finding the previous stage in a company it’s not common, this one is eventually rare. It’s defined by a systematic context analysis of the company’s current stage and future objectives where the majority of the analysis factors are, indeed, external. Including changes in the broad political environment where the company exists or wants to be in the future.
What its really curious is the fact that you can find small companies that are deeply involved in the fourth stage – the true Strategic Planning – and companies of significant size and success that never left the first one – where you just budget for the next year.
At which stage it’s your company?
(Frederick W. Gluck, Stephen P. Kaufman, e A. Steven Walleck: Thinking Strategically)