When the economy is slow, new business is harder to get. What can you do to build your business in a recessionary economy?
It’s been over ten years since our last recession in the United States. For the most part, the US economy has been strong and business has been good for the last decade. However, the fact is, that the economy goes through cycles and business has slowed down for many people. Unfortunately, every time it takes a downturn, the fallout is felt strongly by salespeople, business owners, and professionals alike.
Successful business professionals learn from the past. For many of us, this will not be our first recession. So, what did we learn from previous economic downturns? In the early 90’s, right in the middle of a nasty recession, I was at a business mixer where I was meeting many local business professionals. It seemed that everyone was feeling the crunch from the slow economy. Throughout the entire event, the favorite topic of discussion was how bad the economy was and how things were getting worse. The whole affair was depressing, because nearly everyone was obsessed with the problems of the economy and its impact on their business.
I was introduced to one of the many real estate agents attending. Given the decrease in property values in the state, I was very leery of asking the standard “How’s business?” question. I didn’t want to hear yet another variation of how bad business was. He shared with me, though, that he was having a great year. Naturally, I was surprised and asked, “You did say you were in real estate, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said.
I asked, “We are in Connecticut… aren’t we?”
“Yes,” he said with a slight grin.
“And you’re having a good year?” I asked.
“I’m actually having my best year ever,” he said.
“Your best year,” I said in amazement. After thinking for a moment I asked him, “Is this your first year in real estate?”
“No,” he replied with a laugh, “I’ve been in real estate for almost ten years.”
I asked him how he was doing so well, given the conditions of the economy and the stiff competition. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue and white badge that read: “I absolutely refuse to participate in the recession.”
“That’s your secret?” I asked. “You refuse to participate in the recession, so business is booming?”
“That’s correct,” he said. “While most of my competitors are crying the blues about how bad business is, I’m out drumming up a ton of business networking with my contacts and generating referrals by talking about the great opportunity that exists right now to purchase real estate.”
Considering what he said, I looked around the room and listened in on people for a while as they were complaining about how bad business was. While nearly all were commiserating with one another, I concluded that very few were actually networking and seeking new business. As a result, very little business was actually being accomplished.
Recently, Dagmar Lacy, BNI director for Western Washington, had a conversation with Pat McGuire, a local real estate agent on the same topic. Here is what she had to say about doing business locally in this challenging economy.
“Know what your market share is; know what your local trends are… Kitsap County has turned the corner; buyers are getting off the fence. While people are all caught up in stimulus packages, I’m not waiting for the government to provide me a stimulus package; I’m going after it. A recession is a terrible thing to waste; there is a ton of opportunity out there. I contacted my database with calls, notes and pop-bys; staying connected and becoming their trusted real estate advisor is my proactive way of building my business… Bottom line: it’s done by networking. For example, I ‘popped-by’ 43 business and personal contacts and gave them an ice-scraper with a little slogan… ‘Here’s something for that ice — because your referrals are so nice.’ Don’t just trust Irish Luck; Trust Pat McGuire. Corny? Maybe. Referrals from this activity resulted in two closed transactions!”
So, it seems the lessons of the past, are still holding true today. If you want to do well in business, you must understand that it does absolutely no good to complain to people about how tough things are. When you complain about how bad business is — half the people you tell don’t care and the other half are glad that you’re worse off than they are.
While you cannot control the economy or your competition, you can control your response to the economy. Referrals can keep your business alive and well during an economic downturn.
During the last recession, I watched thousands of people grow and prosper. They were successful because they consciously made the decision to refuse to participate in the recession.
They did so by developing their networking skills and learning how to build their business through word of mouth.
You can do the same during a slow economy by:
Don’t let a bad economy be your excuse for failure. Instead, make it your opportunity to succeed. It’s not “what you know,” or “who you know,” it’s “how well you know people” that counts. In a tough economy, it’s your social capital that has value. Make good use of it and you will thrive while others struggle.
