Tag Archives: recession

Is the Recession Over?

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By Joe Blogger

The state of the economy has been in question for years. We had many warning signs but they were not heeded in the past. When thousands upon thousands of people were losing their jobs in certain states, this should have raised a red flag. Until the unemployment rate decreases for the states that have the highest rates, we are still in a recession.

Some of what most Americans thought were the most secure companies have closed their doors and that is not a good sign. You can be classified as a upper class citizen because of the size of your paycheck one day and below poverty level within a matter of days after losing your job. Think about this, years ago it was a stigma placed on people that had to use food stamps for the purchase of food. Well, it is not that way anymore. Just that change of thought pattern regarding food stamps, speaks recession.

Take a look at the housing market, we have heard of the massive number of individuals that are in foreclosure and the list just keeps getting longer. The stimulus package was not enough to have a major positive impact on the economy. Years ago, people jumped at the opportunity to purchase a home. Now, it is considered an unwise decision to purchase a home that you may not have the money to pay for in the near future.

Bankrutpcy is a viable option for those that would not even consider it. You were frowned upon if you had to declare chapter 13 or 11. There are millions of households that cannot afford to pay the high insurance health insurance premiums that are being offered by employers. When it may cost a family of 4 over eight hundred dollars a month for a basic HMO policy, the recession is still here.

Parents would brag about the money they were saving for their children’s college fund. That is quickly becoming a thing of the past. It is unfortunate when Johnnie’s college fund must be used to pay the mortgage. With gas prices out of control, many are only driving to places that they really need to go. The days of the long Sunday afternoon drives are over. For the individuals that have the larger luxury SUV’s are contemplating trading them in for smaller vehicles that are good on gas. The use of public transportation in the commute to work is becoming more of a first choice instead of the last resort.

It is not an area of your life that the recession has not touched. Think of the senior citizen’s that make the choice each month not to pay for their medicine in order to pay rent or mortgage. The signs of the recession is being shown on the faces of small businesses that depended on the purchase power of the local residents. Since most household’s are cutting back on luxury items, most small businesses have to make the decision to downsize or to close. Just take a look at the sections of your neighborhood that had thriving businesses 10 years ago. Are those same businesses still open?

No the recession is not over. There are no quick fixes for the state of the economy this time. Unless someone comes up with a plan that will change the global economy, the recession will be here for many years to come.

Joe Blogger is a leading authority in the field of Jobs, recruitment and employment matters. Joe Blogger has written numerous informative articles relating to Employment. www.zenopa.com/

Counting The Cost Of Recruitment Learning and Development In The Recession

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By Nick Jervis

What action can you take to ensure that you hold onto your staff and keep your recruitment costs as low as possible? Estimates vary, but to replace a solicitor the total expense in terms of recruitment, lost man hours of the outgoing staff and the training of the incoming member, can exceed £100,000.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has completed their 2009 Annual Survey of Recruitment, Retention and Turnover and it has identified some interesting trends.


Although there has been a significant reduction in the number of vacancies available, organisations are still reporting recruitment difficulties and the key reason for these difficulties are the lack of necessary specialist skills.

Learning and Development becomes even more important, as three quarters of organisations questioned said they were identifying internal staff and providing training to allow these staff to fill those posts.

This becomes even more important when you identify that the average cost per employee to fill a vacancy is £4,000, which rises to £6,125 when also calculating the associated labour turnover costs.

So why should you invest in training and development during the recession?

Whilst movement in the labour market during a recession invariably falls, employee retention is still a huge problem, with nearly 70% of organisations having issues retaining their staff. The most common method of increasing staff loyalty and therefore increasing retention is by offering Learning and Development opportunities.

37% of leavers state a lack of development opportunities as the reason for leaving the organisation, with only promotion outside of the organisation and change of career being above as a reason for leaving.

So in order to retain your staff both in and out of recession you should ensure you develop them and ensure they are maximising their potential in your business.

The Government is offering small and medium sized businesses a grant of up to £1,500 to fund learning and development. You can take advantage of this scheme and it does not take a lot of time to access the grant (less than an hour can be enough). There are obviously criteria you need to meet to obtain the grant, but these are easily explained by the advisor who comes to visit you. You can arrange a visit with an advisor at http://www.traintogain.gov.uk to see if you are eligible.

In short, it is vital to continue on with learning and development through the recession as it can mean that your business is successful and rides the storm. After all, your staff are your most important resource and without them you wouldn’t have a business.


For more information and a training newsletter with course details, visit MASS Training for all of your Legal Training needs . MASS Training provide cost effective, practical and interactive Personal Injury Courses. Nick Jervis is a Solicitor (non-practising) and a Legal Marketing Consultant for Solicitors and Legal Businesses in The UK and a Director of Samson Consulting.

Bucking The Trend – The Time to Start Your New Business May Be Now

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1198417_blue_backgroundStarting a business during a recession is sort of like vacationing during the off-season the waters may be a little rougher, the environment a little chillier; but it’s also less crowded and everyone’s willing to negotiate. Now, someone with experience starting up companies is offering advice, and a new service, for those who are ready to take the plunge.

For many who are out of a job or under-employed, the recession presents an unexpected opportunity. Historically speaking, poor economic times can’t stop the entrepreneurial spirit.
Consider this:


* 16 of the 30 corporations that make up the Dow Jones Industrial average were started during recessions

* Procter & Gamble and General Electric were founded during the “panic of 1837″

* Disney was started in 1923

* Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1938, the beginning of the Great Depression

* Microsoft began in 1975, also a recession

The fact is, according to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in July 2009, U.S. unemployment reached 9.5 percent – its highest levels in 26 years – with 467,000 jobs lost in June alone. When you add to the mix discouraged workers who have pulled back on their job searches , the tally increases to a whopping 10 percent.

It’s not all bad, however. Where others see gloom and doom, entrepreneur Jan Stuart looks for opportunity. Stuart, founder of JansDeals.com, whose own successful business went under during the 1987 stock market crash, knows a thing or two about creating success out of what might seem to be a losing situation and offers these tips for “newpreneurs” (entrepreneurs who’ve started a company in this recession):

* Do what you love and love what you do – If you’re not excited by your business, chances are that will be reflected in the success of your business–or subsequent lack of success.

* It’s all about the customer – Period. Everything you do in business must be customer focused. Something to keep in mind is that in this economy, everyone is looking for a great deal. Stuart’s site, jansdeals.com, lets small businesses post deals and bargains by zip code, which consumers can then find by searching their area.

* Grab attention, quickly – Small-business owners cannot waste time, money and energy on creating long-term plans to generate exposure and bring customers in the door. A little creative – yet effective – self-promotion can be just what the small business doctor ordered.

* Take advantage – There’s a plethora of special/cost-effective marketing opportunities for the small business owner, if you know where to look. For many, reaching customers through fliers and paid advertising can be a hardship and that’s where they lose out – they just don’t have the budgets and means of more established locations or big chains.

Jan’s Deals was created with an eye towards helping small businesses meet this need and allows them to target customers inexpensively by listing deals that they can edit/change as they see fit, as often as they need and in real time at no fee. Stuart is offering small businesses three months free listings on the website as he launches it.

Lastly, says Stuart, “If there is one thing I’ve learned in my experiences is that you have to put it all on the line when it’s something you believe in. I know that small and new businesses are the lever under the economic boulder – they bring money in, create jobs and opportunity.”

Eric Schmeltzer is a public relations consultant in New York City, and a constant deal-seeker. More can be found at http://www.schmeltzerpr.com

3 Ways to Use the Recession to Start Making More Money in Your Business

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1184475_green_forestYou can’t turn on the television, pick up a newspaper or go online today without hearing something about the recession and how sales are down across nearly all industries, in all markets and in just about every niche.

I hear similar complaints from people who get in touch to see if I can help them with their Website content, marketing copy or just to do a little strategizing.

The thing is, a number of my clients refused to accept the status quo -they weren’t willing to sit back and watch their businesses be destroyed. They wanted new strategies. New marketing and sales approaches. A new way of connecting with their clients and customers.

And they were very satisfied with the resulting jump in sales and profit margins.

So what’s our “secret sauce” that’s sending sales into the stratosphere? Actually it’s not that much of a secret. It’s all about understanding the latest trends, paying attention to what your customers are saying and doing – and figuring out how to give them what they want right now.

For example…

Opportunity Is Knocking… But Is Anyone Home?

If you’re in the home entertainment. video game or DVD markets or even in the restaurant business – current consumer trends show that more families are “staying in” this summer, eating at home and watching movies from the comfort of their own homes.

This actually creates a fabulous opportunity for you… If you’re willing to figure out how you can serve those customers. This is a perfect opportunity to create joint ventures and build your customer list. Here’s an example:

For one of my clients (who owns a dvd rental store in a mid-sized city), I created three partnerships with other local business owners. We started with the largest electronics store. The owner was able to secure a special deal of DVD players from his supplier at a special rate. We created a special discount rate card for customers buying the new system – where they would get one free DVD rental a month, if they purchased during the special sale. (We also created two different upsells to offer to customers who participated. One offered a 2 for 1 DVD package, with special bonus DVD rentals planned throughout the year. The second was for 5 DVD rentals for a longer period of time, and the upsell included PS2 or PS3 game rentals as well. But the real goal was to get a new list of customers who came into the store – and that we could market to in the future.)

The second partnership was with a local pizza restaurant. I can’t go into details on this one, but I can tell you that my client received a 39% jump in total sales compared with the previous year and increased his customer list 124%.

Or what about this trend?

Healthy Clients… Healthy Habits… Healthy Profits

One of the newest trends that retail giant Walmart is jumping on are in-store health clinics – where they’ve created partnerships with local hospitals. They expect to have 400 such clinics in place by 2010.

This popular trend is being fueled by two engines – affordability and accessibility. A typical visit is projected to cost the consumer only around $55.00.

So you may not be a Walmart… but if you’re in the alternative health and fitness market, or massage, or even spa treatments… What other entrepreneurs or businesses could you team up with – to create one-stop shopping that provides an incredible customer experience and gives your health and fitness clients what they want?

The Signs of the Times – Green is Good

Another very popular and growing trend is the move towards green – reducing our carbon footprint, natural healthy products and services that cater towards consumers who are concerned about our effect on the environment.

Many sectors of the travel market have been hit this year – and hit hard. And yet, there are still companies that are doing very well, in spite of the economy.

What can you learn from them?

If you can’t grow bigger, go smaller. Look for niches and sub-niches in your market or industry that have product or service gaps.

Share ideas for going green and reducing waste, energy and resources with your customers and clients. Offer ways they can get involved.

Find ways of creating experiences that offer something unique, above the ordinary. Create a message that resonates within your market. Communicate your company’s values with your clients. Speak up, take a stand and get involved in your local community. Give something back.

Trying to compete in the old ways just doesn’t cut it in today’s market. Instead, provide new services and experiences that create and build loyalty and build the buzz about who you are and what you stand for. Take advantage of the opportunities provided by the economic downturn to build your business, your customers’ loyalty and your profit margin.

Cheryl Antier is a copywriter, ghostwriter and travel writer who helps her clients stop being invisible to the search engines, their prospects, customers and clients and creates marketing materials that turn more lookie-lous and tire tickers into buyers. To find out more, check out her Website at http://www.cherylantier.com

Exploding the Myths of Financial Health in a Recession

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811013_flowers_in_the_rainThe hot topic on everyone’s mind right now, including radio, television and print media is how to cope with the current recession. A lot of the analysts and talking heads are recommending that businesses and investors pull back, reduce their expenditures, create a budget and save their money.

This is the worst advice possible in recessionary times, or any other time, for that matter. Think about what you are doing when you reduce, budget and save. You are very effectively limiting your opportunities for success. All of these actions are very inward and will only serve to further slow your progress.

The fact is that more wealth is created during a recession or depression than any other time. Why? Simply because everything is on sale! Remember the old adage, “Buy low and sell high?” Well, now is the time to buy. Now is the time to invest. Now is the time to build your business bigger and more profitably. Stop listening to those who are, in fact, major contributors to this economic downturn (and could we stop calling it a downturn and refer to it properly? We are in a depression, so let’s just recognize it for what it is.).

Of course, the $64 million question is what to do instead of reducing, budgeting and saving and how to do it.

Think about the natural result of developing, implementing and following through on a plan. Since the first step of any good plan is to set the goal we are trying to achieve, the natural result is to achieve the goal. If instead, you focus on reducing and budgeting, the result will be a reduction of your wealth. The second step to a good strategy is to plan the celebration you are going to have when you reach your goal.

What a change in focus and energy! We change our entire world from a feeling of fear and despair to one of hope and possibility. And remember that whatever you focus on is what you will get.

So how do you create your strategy? Once you have your goal and celebration clearly written, you simply work backwards to where you are today. Of course, that presumes that you know where you are today. Do you? Do you know your current cash flow and net worth? Do you know the value of your business and investments? Do you have good financial records? If not, now is the time to get this part of your financial house in order.

It’s very simple to create a strategy once you have a clear picture of your goals and your present situation. It’s simply a matter of filling in the gap. And filling in the gap starts with your financial education. You have to learn how to accomplish your goal. You can do this with self-study courses or you can work with a good Strategic Wealth Coach. Whatever your preferred method of learning, understand that your education is the best investment you can make. Of course, you know that or you wouldn’t be investing your time in reading this article.

The biggest key to your success? Take action now! Stop listening to all of those naysayers and take advantage of this wonderful financial market. And don’t believe those who say that you need money in order to make money. Most of the wealth in this world was created with an idea, not with money.

Remember that with the right knowledge and a good strategy, your financial freedom is closer than you think. And now is the best time in 60 years to reach your dreams. This opportunity won’t come around again in our lifetime so take advantage and start planning now to celebrate your success.

Tom Wheelwright is the founder, CEO and creative force behind ProVision Wealth Strategists, a full-service CPA and wealth strategy firm headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. ProVision coaches investors and business owners all over the world to financial freedom, creating vast amounts of wealth and business success for its clients. For more information, please visit http://www.ProVisionWealth.com .

Selling in a Recession – 5 Strategies for Selling in Tough Markets

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1181391_cannabis_plant1. Believe you can and stay positive!

One of the problems with all of this talk about recession is that once people believe there is going to be a recession they start to feel negative about their business prospects and only tend to see what they believe rather than believing what they see. Once you believe that there is going to be a recession you tend to only notice articles, comments and statistics that support your beliefs.

What’s more, your negative beliefs quickly affect your outlook and the way that you feel about your business prospects.

If you thought 2009 was going to be a great year for business, your best year yet; how would you feel?

Conversely, if you thought 2009 was going to see a major recession and that it was going to hit you and your business hard; how would you feel?

Mighty different huh? And remember, nothing’s changed here other than your belief. Having a positive and supportive belief structure is essential if you want to succeed in any market but it is vitally essential if you want to keep on selling in a tough one.

Having a winning belief system does not mean that you need to be deluded however! In the middle of the darkest recession you don’t want to have your eyes shut! But you do need to realise that in a recession people want to work with the best suppliers. Suppliers that they can rely on. Suppliers that support them. Suppliers who are going to be around tomorrow. And if your competitors struggle, that means more sales and more business for you.

2. Get proactive

You need to be more proactive. Much more proactive. You need to do more marketing and more selling. You need to attend more events and do more networking. You need to do more promotion and more canvassing. You need to increase your sales activities, maybe dramatically.

In a recession many companies cut their sales activites. They figure, “If we’re not going to sell anything, what’s the point?” Many individual salespeople do this too.

Cut your activity, cut your sales. You’re a living, breathing, self-fulfilling prophecy! You believe there is not much business out there, so you feel negative. That in turn affects your activity and your activity destroys your sales results.

Even if there is not as much business out there, then you need to be more active, more focused and more targeted. If your competitors are easing off a little, now is the time to up the anti and grab your share of the market. Even if sales do slow down temporarily, you will be in poll position when things pick up again.

One of my friends went down to our local estate agent this week to put his house on the market. He was told that maybe he should wait as he might not get the price he wants right now. They told him the market was quiet and that might not be able to sell the house at all. Better to wait for the market to pick up. I walked past their offices later on that day. They were all sitting, chatting and drinking coffee. They were probably moaning about what a bad year it’s going to be. If I’s have been in that office, I’d have taken my mates house on and I’d have been on the phone drumming up some viewings. 50 calls, 100, calls, 500 calls… Whatever it takes. I’d have found someone.


Talk about killing your own market! If you see less business then you need to do more sales and marketing, not less. That’s common sense.

3. Sharpen your sales skills

If a workman needs a spade and a farmer needs a horse; a boxer needs a defence and a chef needs a recipe; what do salespeople need? The answer’s obvious – it’s sales skills.

Most salespeople do not spend enough time working on improving their sales skills and techniques. Sales training and development is not something that many salespeople spend their time on out of choice. Perhaps they can get away with this in a booming marrket when sales are easy. Perhaps not. But things will always change if the market tightens. Sales success will go to the salesperson who really understands why people buy and can help people make the right business decisions. Salespeople of this calibre stand to benefit from possible changes ahead because there will be more business for them as their competition falls by the wayside.

Sales will not go to the journeyman salesperson, the mediocre wannabee or the 9-5 order taker. Salespeople like these could well be in for a rough time.

When did you last read a sales training book on selling? How many sales training audios have you listened to over the last month? How many sales training seminars have you atteneded in the last 6 months? For 80% of salespeople reading this, the answer is zero.

4. Improve your service and focus on relationships

As I write this many companies will be working out how to cut corners. They will try to save money by tinkering with their business offerings. They will try and eek extra profits out of their clients by cutting the bells and whistles from their offerings. This is not a good idea. A Swiss cow with no bells is just a cow and no-one would send postcards of them home!

If business is tight you want to be wowing your clients with the best service that they have ever had, from you or from any of your competitors. You need to be going the extra mile. If a recession bites many companies will try and discount to survive. They probably won’t (survive), but you don’t want your clients going to them as they try to keep their heads above water! You need to “lock in” your existing clients now so that they won’t even think about going anywhere else.

Spend time with your clients. Build stronger relationships with your clients. Make sure you truly understand them, their concerns and their businesses. Find ways to help them and add value over and above what they could have ever expected.

5. Leverage your efforts

In a soft market many salespeople only chase the easy stuff. They don’t chase the tough stuff. Hey, they’re doing alright and they don’t need to. They’re making sales right?

Wrong.

Most salespeople have all sorts of opportunities which they squander every day and every month because there are seemingly easier things that they can be doing. This is particularly true in an industry or a company where leads have been relatively easy to come by, where sales targets are relatively soft (I could tell you which industries but I’m not going to) or where salespeople are overpaid so don’t crave the business (again, I’ll keep this to myself!).

In a tough market you must leverage all of your efforts. This is basic sales 101 and should be stuff that you do every day anyway… Here are just a few ideas.

Always ask for referrals. Referrals are great business but most salespeople do not ask for them because clients often say no. Learn how to ask for a referral properly and then build asking for a referral into your sales process and ask for one every time.

Upsell and cross-sell. Whether though laziness, lack of knowledge or lack of ability many salespeople sit on accounts where there is so much more business than they are currently leveraging. Extending your business with existing clients will not only make you more money, it will also strengthen your relationships with and value to them and their businesses.

Contact dormant accounts. Most companies have hundreds if not thousands of “dormant” accounts. There may be multiple reasons for this from changing business practises to fall-outs with the client. Dormant clients may well be redeemable and may have been “lost” purely because someone forgot to ring them or a salesperson moved on. Get in touch with them!

Follow up on all leads. I recently contacted 5 health insurance companies over the web. Only one replied. You should not be burning leads like this in any market. Follow up on all leads professionally using a proven sales system like the ones I teach in my sales training seminars and programmes and you will close more business. New clients are essential for any business in any market.

So there we are, 5 tips to help you to sell in a recssion. This year may well prove to be an interesting year for some businesses and individuals. Some of this will be down to the market itself. Much of it will be down to you and how you react and respond to what might be a challenging year.

Here’s my prediction for the year…

There will be winners and there will be losers. Which are you going to be?

Copyright © 2009 Gavin Ingham; For more from sales motivational speaker Gavin Ingham visit http://www.gaviningham.com now.