Main Idea
What is your view of the stock market? How is your business? Do you have friends who have lost their job, their house, or are having trouble getting loans? Do you read about people committing suicide? How bad is it out there?
Expansion of Idea
Right now, a lot of people are afraid to even turn on the television or look at a newspaper or internet. Some people don’t face reality. Others still don’t see the problems because it hasn’t hit them hard. One of the key truths that Jim Collins wrote about in the book “Good to Great” is that truly great companies all faced adversity during the transition from being good to becoming great. The difference between them and merely good companies or even bad companies is that they were completely honest with themselves in their analysis of whatever adversity they faced. They also had unwavering faith in their ability to survive the situation. Only by truly understanding their situation could they determine how to fix their problems.
Obviously, we are in a pretty severe economic period. All of us know people who have either lost jobs or homes or businesses. There is no easy fix. However, this is a great opportunity for creating relationships. You can improve your relationships by doing positive things for your customers and employees. Look for synergies with vendors, other businesses, and maybe even competitors.
Action Items
Put a smile on your face. You cannot provide great service with a frown.
Look for opportunities to get closer to your customers.
Brainstorm with your team about how to add value to your customers. Sometimes you can add value with minimal cost. For a great example, go to http://www.stservicemovie.com/ and watch the 5 minute movie on Johnny the Bagger.