Tough questions, profitable answers. (Editor's Note).Prosperity, we're we're Contraction of we are. we're we are told, is just around the corner. We just don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. which corner, or how long it will take to get there. Our current recovery (if it is a recovery) is ugly, slow and fitful--in short, a first-class opportunity to teach your team what it takes to prosper through tough times. In fact, savvy CEOs are already using this difficult period as a crash course in business survival for a generation of younger execs managing through their first serious downturn Downturn The transition point between a rising, expanding economy to a falling, contracting one. downturn A decline in security prices or economic activity following a period of rising or stable prices or activity. . These CEOs are teaching their teams to: Get lean (again): Almost every company has had a round of pruning pruning, the horticultural practice of cutting away an unwanted, unnecessary, or undesirable plant part, used most often on trees, shrubs, hedges, and woody vines. and cost cuts. Many have had two. Regardless of how much cuffing cuffing /cuff·ing/ (kuf´ing) formation of a cufflike surrounding border, as of leukocytes about a blood vessel, observed in certain infections. you've done already, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to look again. Some of the cuts you've made didn't stick, others were ill-advised and still others have opened the door for even more savings. Challenge your direct reports with these questions: * If your budget were cut by half, which tasks would you eliminate? How would those changes affect your customers? * If you could invest in just one budget item above and beyond last year's levels, which would it be? What would you give up to make that investment? Get on the road: At too many companies, mahogany mahogany, common name for the Meliaceae, a widely distributed family of chiefly tropical shrubs and trees, often having scented wood. The valuable hardwood called mahogany is obtained from many members of the family; in America and Europe it is imported for row is a customer-free zone where decisions are made in the absence of market sense. You need to spend your time with customers now, so you can make money later. Ask your team to answer these questions: * How many customer visits did you make in the past year? Month? Week? * What percentage of your employees make regular customer visits? If it isn't 100 percent, you're missing opportunities to build customer relationships, to discover competitor secrets and to find new ideas "New Ideas" is the debut single by Scottish New Wave/Indie Rock act The Dykeenies. It was first released as a Double A-side with "Will It Happen Tonight?" on July 17, 2006. The band also recorded a video for the track. for customer value. * How will you add value for customers next year? What new services will you offer? Which will you include free as ways to gain market share, and which will drive higher margins? Get ready: Whenever the economy turns, you will need new products and new thinking to survive. Ask your VPs these brain-starters: * How would you make up lost revenues if one of your major customer segments vanished overnight? (You can skip this exercise if you serve the telecom or accounting industries, since you've already lived through it.) In which other segments would you invest, and with what priority? How does your answer compare with your answer compare with your current strategy? * If your major product line were wiped out overnight, but you retained your current skill sets within the company, toward what services or products would you redeploy re·de·ploy tr.v. re·de·ployed, re·de·ploy·ing, re·de·ploys 1. To move (military forces) from one combat zone to another. 2. your assets? How long would it take you to rebuild your revenues to their current level? * If everyone in your department resigned tomorrow, what criteria would you use to replace them? Who would you want to work with, and how would you attract and retain them? Most important of all, why would they want to work for you -- and what will you do about it? |
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