Ready for the recovery?

Right now, there are still many people who think things aren’t going to get better. There are others who think the recession is over. I don’t believe either, to be honest with you. But I do believe that it’s time to start thinking about growing. It’s time to start thinking about taking some well calculated risks. It’s time to get things in order so you can grow. 

Here are three things I’d be doing now to make sure you are ready for the recovery:

1. As Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.”
Vision is first; that’s where you are headed. Then comes mission: Define what you’re trying to do on a daily basis that will help you achieve your vision. And then, what are the core values – the behaviors you and your team will exhibit to make sure you’re headed toward your vision and working on the mission?

It sounds so simple and when you get right down to it, it is. But, it’s serious stuff. If we don’t give this part tremendous thought, we end up wandering aimlessly toward some unknown destination. Questions you should be able to answer are as follows: What business are you in? How do you make clients happy? What do you do better than your competition? What should you be doing more of? What are you not very good at? Who is your ideal client? Where do you make the most money? What would you do if you knew you would not fail? What could you be doing more of? There are many more questions, but these will help you flesh out what your vision and mission may be.

Consider this, most Americans spend more time, money and effort planning their vacations than they do their businesses and lives. Isn’t it time you spent some time clarifying what you’re trying to be known for and identifying how you’re going to get there?

2. Make sure your selling efforts are running as smoothly and effectively as possible.
Keep this pretty simple. For starters, make sure everyone in your company sells using a system. We use an 11-step selling system at Grunder Landscaping Co. It’s pretty simple but it helps my team know what the steps are to making a sale.

A few suggestions: When a prospect or client calls you, call them back as fast as you can. Especially in this competitive environment, speed sells. The faster you get back to people, the better your chances are for making a sale.

Always show the prospect or client what you can do that’s in their budget. Salespeople who try to force more than what the client asked for are destined for failure. Now there’s nothing wrong with showing them options that make a job that much nicer, but show them what you can do for the price they said they’d spend.

When you don’t get the sale, tell the prospect or client thanks, tell them to call you if they need something in the future and then stay in touch with them.

Finally, spend some money on sales training right now. That’s what I’m doing. I want to get better right now so I’m ready for the future.

3. Make sure you are as efficient as possible.
Finally, make sure you are lean. Learn from this recent downturn and don’t ever forget the lessons you’ve learned. Continue to ask vendors for discounts and terms to help you manage your cash.

Get rid of the things that don’t add value at your company. We’ve sold a lot of equipment that we don’t need. When business picks up, we can buy new things. I’m amazed at some of the contractors who are buying equipment right now because it’s “a good deal.” They don’t need the items, but they bought them anyway. Is that really a good deal? The bottom line is: Get every underutilized asset out of your company. That includes people. You need to be lean right now and keep it that way going forward.

I know that a recovery is coming. And when it finally arrives, I’m going to be ready. We’re focused on our vision, mission and core values. We have a good selling process that’s getting better each month. And we are about as lean as we can get – well, almost. When business picks up, I’m going to do really well.

The question for you is: Are you ready for the recovery? If not, what are you waiting for? It doesn’t do any good to think things will never get better. Think positively and start acting like things are better right now. If you wait too long, you might be too late.