This past summer I celebrated my 20th anniversary of my friendship to my buddy David. I use the term anniversary because we have been fixtures in each others lives for so long people just assumed we are married...and like all marriages we have had good times our ups and downs and there was even a trial separation but throughout the years we have always been there for each other in the great times and more importantly in the hard times.
I am pretty lucky cause I have a lot of people in my life that I consider friends but there are only a few who I would call if (...and some might say when) I was ever arrested...and sure I am kinda using this as a "WHAT IF" but I got to thinking about this because I took a look outside and saw that the world was in an (decided to use the politically correct term) economic downturn. Yes, times are tough but what a lot of people aren't seeing is the enormous opportunity that lies in these times.
If you think about your best friends there are probably a bunch of examples where they went out of their way to make you feel better after something crappy happened...heck if you look for reviews online to something you can always find people talking about the bad more than the good.
The reason for this is that memories are made in bad times...and if you look around we are in exactly that.
Bad Times.
But ya know what happens when you do amazing things for people in bad times they develop undying loyalty and never forget you in the good times.
If you are a customer facing company you should be rubbing your hands together at this amazing opportunity because quite simply, weather you are doing it for good reasons or just being opportunistic right now is the time to make lasting memories.
Instead of cutting marketing budgets you should be showering your customers with unexpected rewards. If there is a way to make your customers lives easier or take a pain out of their lives....DO IT NOW!
A lot has been written about companies that get built and thrive in these economies and that may be because there is less competition or maybe it is just because there is less competition who really care about their customers and would actually bail them out of jail.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Would your company bail a customer out of Jail?
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1 comment:
Great post Saul. I totally agree that this economic downturn presents a world of opportunities for entrepreneurs.
One trait that separates the successful from the unsuccessful is the ability to look at a change with an eye to opportunity.
As a leader in my own industry, I got tired of all the doom and gloom in the media, which I feel is one-sided and sensationalized.
I dug into some research into the real estate market in Canada and the US and various economic indicators and wrote a free special report "Ask Staging Diva: Can I grow a home staging business in a depressed economy."
My goal was to beat back some of the bad news that hides the real opportunities that exist today.
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