The Economy Has Begun It’s Recovery: Fact Or Fiction?
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Real Gross Domestic Product...- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States - decreased at an annual rate of 1.0 percent in the second quarter of 2009,(that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP decreased 6.4 percent.”
Whatever your current situation, the general consensus in business and in the industrial realm (with a few specific exceptions)is that the recession is turning the corner. WE HAVE HIT BOTTOM and we are on the road to recovery! It’s true in my world. It seemed that many of the companies that I was seeing in the first 6 months of the year were paralyzed. They were afraid of the consequences of the economic slowdown. They were slashing costs, freezing budgets and laying off employees.
Now it seems that people have realized what position this recession has put them in, in their industry. They now know if they will stay in business. They now know which, if any, of their competitors will go out of business. Most are starting to hear their phones ringing once again, albeit, much less frequently. The calls they are getting are for better quality, more profitable jobs. The work they managed to keep thru the downturn is ramping up. It’s looking better. Companies are sourcing again. They are realizing that in order to stay in business, they have to actually DO business.
I spoke to the owner of a trucking company yesterday. He is a small company, but growing at a good pace. He said that last week, he landed one of the biggest contracts his company has ever seen. He had been working/ prospecting this company since April of this year. He had put a lot of time in on this company in the past 6 months. “What was the deciding factor?” I asked him. He said, “The company that was currently hauling for him called him and said that they were ceasing operations as of September 4th, so he called me and told me we were starting September 5th. Great story, right? A great example of “stick to-itiveness.” Being in the right place at the right time… Yes, this owner’s business card was on the prospects desk when he got the call from his current hauler. He was “top of mind,” because he had been in this prospect’s office the week before.
This is a great example of the marketing concept, “Seller Seeking Buyer.” Hard work can definitely create job opportunities this way. And, in fact, it should. Your reputation in your industry contributes to this. How the people you know feel about you and how often you make an effort to follow up with them contributes to this. Yes, your current prospects are well aware of you. They might not be buying from you right now, but “They will.” I don’t have a problem with this.
The concept that is very frequently overlooked, especially with companies who have been in business longer than, say, 10 years, is the “Buyer Seeking Seller” concept. I have plenty of prospects who I know will call me when they need marketing help. The prospect base that holds the key to my growth, though, is the people that I do not know… AND the people and companies who do not know me. When your perfect prospect needs a company like you, but does not know you, will they be able to find you? I am well aware that there are many more companies who are looking for marketing help than I know of, or that I am able to see in a week, or a month, or a year. How are these people going to find me? 93% of the time, they will turn to the internet. Search Engine Optimization is KEY. (See http://www.yellowjacketmm.com/portfolio-by-service/search-engine-optimization) This is just one of the many reasons I have a website. www.yellowjacketmm.com.
It still amazes me that there are ANY people or companies left who feel that they do not need a website. I spoke to 2 just today. One was a company owner who definitely knows he needs a website but “doesn’t have the time” to build one… NOT a good excuse… And… the other was the trucking company I spoke about earlier. He said to me, “This is how I get new business.” (referring to the situation I explained earlier.)
I asked him, “What about your competitor who went out of business? What about all of his customers? Had you called on them?” The owner of this trucking company had earlier told me that his objective thru the next 12 months to become more regional (expand his OTR coverage from 150 miles to 300 miles.) Contemplating that this competitor was already a REGIONAL carrier, this owner was quiet for almost an entire minute. Potential lost. “That’s a good point,” he said. I then asked him how different the situation would have been if this prospect was told by his current hauler, “We are ceasing operations as of November 4th?” Would this prospect have reached for the first business card on his desk? Or would he have done a bit of research first?
Again… silence.
In order to meet his expansion goals, this company will need to expand it’s physical reach geographically. He will also need to focus on keeping his current customers happy and satisfied, while letting them know about his new reach and capabilities. Sadly, he is only human and is limited to the number of hours in a day and number of days in a work week… How can he do this, AND get in front of more potential business that doesn’t already know him?
You know the answer, and so does he.