The Right Formula For Grabbing Market Share in a tight economy

The Right Formula For Grabbing Market Share in a tight economy.

In these challenging economic times, the attached approach for grabbing market share is certainly worthy of consideration.

An excerpt from the opening paragraph of the attached article states “When most people see the symbol CO₂ they think of the acidic oxide. According to many sources, CO₂ in concentrations of 7% to 10% can cause dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, and unconsciousness within a few minutes to an hour.”

The authors of the article took a slightly different spin on the properties of CO₂. “C=02. This business formula signals that Chaos equals Opportunity to the second power. What better time for a company to grab market share than when there is a sense that their competition is on their heels. Strong, well positioned brands are always looking for an opportunity to grab their share of the market – there has never been a better time than now!”

Much of the news today is consumed with bleak economic data.  Many companies are going inward, cutting CapEx, laying people off, cutting “discretionary” spending and waiting for the economic downturn to pass.  This is a certain formula for disaster and an express ticket to the dead pool.  What is most important today is to use these times to not cut expenses and staff indiscriminately, but rather to put everything under the microscope to cut those things that never really made sense, but made their way into your operating budgets when you were flush with cash and your investments were returning healthy returns.  Everything else must stay and be used for you to create a battle plan that will ensure you are victorious over your competition.

We are in a period of economic correction people!  This is a natural business cycle, which, at the moment may feel like a free fall from 30 thousand feet.  I do not wish to minimize the severity of this economic downturn, but this is not a time to forget what made your company a world class brand or a company on its way to greater things.  You must continue to invest in the important things that will make your customer continue to choose you over the competition.  You must continue to be strategic and to innovate.  You must put even more emphasis on doing the things that are required to win the minds and hearts of your customers, with a focus on doing things better, faster and cheaper.  This is a time to leverage the data assets you have.  Use the data to drive the insights which will help you to devise the best possible battle plans to gain share.  You must exploit every weakness of your competition and strengthen your most important assets.  If you data suggests you should be trying some new things to gain share, by all means test.  Test often, using this time to strengthen your position.  If you fail, fail quickly and learn.  Get yourself back on course and positioned for a stronger market position.

Be smart, be bold, be strategic, but most importantly, be the things that are most important to your customers.  Don’t forget about your guiding principals, your mission statement and your key points of differentiation.  If you see your competition pulling back, don’t follow their lead, go grab share and make certain you give your new customers what your competition could not or would not deliver.  It is not about slashing prices, it is about providing value.  Value is a multi-dimensional equation that encompasses price, product, promotion, assortment, service, trust and a open two-way communication with your customers.

If you are on the service side, spend more time with your customers to better understand their pain points.  What do you need to do to re-invent yourself to be responsive to how your clients are changing their business.  Are they looking to outsource more services, are they looking for better technology that reduces costs and cycle time, etc.  These will serve as signals to where their heads are and if they get the concept of C = O x 2.  This is a time to be a value added strategic partner more than ever.  Companies can fire vendors, but they are less likely to fire value added business partners that provide a strategic differentiation to the competition that translates to increased revenue, margin and ROI.  If you have clients who do not get C=O2, which I am sure you do, take the time to explain it to them.  Help to minimize their fears.

We are in these turbulent times for the balance of 2009 and most likely the first half of 2010 so strap on your seat belts and pull them tight as it will be a bumpy ride, but it is not the end of the rode.  Those who see opportunity to the second power in this chaotic time will come out on top, stronger than those who make cost cutting their primary objective in hopes of just weathering the storm.

Take the challenge, thrive on chaos and find your opportunity to the second power  C = O x 2

The new normal of our economic times

It has become common place to read about lay-offs, store closing, financial scandals on Wall Street and economic despair daily in the WSJ and NYT.  It will be interesting to read in 10, 20, 50 years how these times and the corresponding actions are reflected upon and talked about by professors, economists, world leaders and every day citizens whose lives changed forever in this global economic meltdown.   

Just like we all remember where we were and what we were doing on 9/11, there are many more memories of personal tragedy that are becoming indelable memories in our minds as our lives are once again changing forever.  Just as there were concerns of future terror attacks after 9/11, there are continued fears of how much more the economy will worsen and how it will impact everyday life, the pursuit of advanced education for your children, the ability to keep your home and your job, dreams of retirement and so much more.

People are both hopeful and optimistic that the new government leadership can help to turn this around.  I, for one, am confident that it will occur.  America, through its innovation, transformation and general couragous attitude to problem solving  has always been able to come out on the other side of economic downturn and tragedy much stronger.

As Americans, we have always maintained a positive attitude and one of ever brighter times ahead.  As such, our eyes have often become bigger than our stomachs causing us to over consume the many riches and splendors available to us from big homes, fancy cars, lavish trips, shopping spree’s, frequent dining out, all with the help of our good friends Amex, Visa and Mastercard, as well as our all to happy to lend financial institutions.  Well, my friends, that party is over and we all have a terrible hang-over as a result.  This is a hang-over that a few aspirin and a nap will not fix.  It is time for everyone to adjust to these new times of tightening credit and economic uncertainty.  People cannot continue to rely on credit to live in the lifestyle they have not saved to support, but feel they either deserve or must pursue to keep up with the Jones.  We all own a piece of this global downturn and debt.  We cannot look to governments or our neighbors to solve our problems, we must modify how we lives our lives, spend our money and what we save.  At the same time, we must also we willing to invest in our rebuilding by continuing to spend prudently.  The free flow of currency around the globe, through trade, investments and consumer spending play a significan role in our global economy.  

It is often said that when the U.S. gets a cold, the rest of the world gets the flu.  It is time for us to take our medicine to cure our econimic woes and make sure the rest of the world follows suit.

Republican or Democrat… Can’t We All Just Get Along

The trench that separates the current U.S. political divide is getting both deeper and wider. At a time when this country needs a uniting force and a uniting message, both parties are doing their part to put fear in the hearts and minds of American voters, as well as passing blame on the current administration. Granted, there is much the current administration has done wrong, driving us to unacceptable levels of national debt, poor economic performance and consumer confidence.

There was a time when the U.S. was the leader of the Free World in every measurable category. We were the land of opportunity, the land of the free and the home of the brave; one nation under God… The U.S. was the envy of the world and Ellis Island was a dream for most and a reality for many.

What has happened to us as a nation, what has happened to our political system, what has happened to our moral compass, what has happened to our value system, our education system, our willingness to lend a helping hand rather than having a hand out as a people.

The current obesity level of our nation has become symbolic for our nation and our political system as a whole. We have become fat, lazy, consumed with fast food or quick fixes – over spending and over consumption with unacceptable results. This fast food mentality has put our nation in a crisis. When do we stop the political rhetoric and get back to basics. We, as a nation, have created this mess and we must fix it together. It can no longer be the left blaming the right and visa versa. We, as citizens, have to get up off our lazy butts and take responsibility for our actions, the actions of our children and the actions of our neighbors. It is time to say no more, it is time to get healthy again, it is time to become a leader again and to set an example for the world. To do this, however, we must work inside out and not outside in. We have to fix our own problems before we can fix the worlds problems. Is a safe Iraq our primary concern or is it the safety and well being of those living within our borders. After all, one day we supply Saddam with arms and the next we want his head… (another post for another time).

We are a nation that innovates and we must focus on innovation our education system, giving our children the skills they need to compete in this global economy. What ever happened to tough love. As a teenager in an all boys Jesuit high school, I knew better than to misbehave. If we “goofed off” we did push ups or sit ups in front of our classmates or got detention; if we showed up to school unshaven, we were sent to the office to shave with a 5 year old rusty razor; if we did not do our homework, we stayed after school until it was done and a note was sent home to our parents to sign; if we cut class, we got detention. There were rules and we respected authority. Why are we so afraid to discipline our children in school today. What kind of message are we sending our children today. Why are teachers allowing this, why are our teachers so apathetic, why does anyone want to teach today, or do they… it seems to me, many teachers spend a lot of time doing anything but teaching and leading. What does all of this have to do with politics? It has less to do with politics and more to do with the social crisis we have ALL created and are feeding. Our apathy at the polls and our willingness to let this country get away from us is being evidences in all facets our our life and our country.

What of the environment, what of the future of our children and our grandchildren and the families of future generations. It is time to stop treating this nation and this planet as a garbage dump where we continue to destroy it through our words, our actions and our example. It is time we all stop the insanity and take responsibility for our actions. What our we leaving future generations to clean up.

I am calling out McCain, Obama, Clinton and all other politicians to worry less about crafting a message that will get votes and to focus on creating a platform that unifies our nation, that gives us something to to rally behind as a united nation, as a world leader. It is time for tough love again. Let’s end the litigious society we have created… you sue and you lose, you pay. We need real tort reform; get rid of the backlog in the legal system. Clean up the messes in our jails – no more Mr. Nice Guy; you do the crime you do HARD TIME and think twice about doing it again. While in jail, let’s force our inmates to learn a trade, to get their education, to work to pay for their stay. Jail is supposed to be a penalty and it is supposed to rehabilitate. Let’s make our politicians work as well, let’s expose the programs that our lining their pockets, let’s make them accountable for their performance, let’s put them on an MBO program, let’s demand bi-partisanship, let’s take the politics out of politics, let’s get rid of the entitlement programs, let’s demand the fat be cut in Washington. Why are so many people losing jobs in corporate america because corporations have no loyalty to co-workers and are only focused on returning shareholder value while our political system continues to become more bloated and they are not held accountable. Let’s run the lobbyists our of Washington, or at least be sure American’s are better informed about what they are really doing and expose the perks they are giving to our leaders on Capital Hill. Let’s clean up our health care system; we need insurance reform, drug reform and a simplified approach to the entire healthcare process that will drive costs out of the sytem and improve the quality of our healthcare. Let’s clean up our entitlement programs… why do we have illegal aliens doing legitimate blue collar jobs while we have lazy americans sitting on their butts eating chips, drinking beer and watching TV with the money they are getting from unemployment. If you can work, you should work, if you can’t work, we should require people to go back to school and get passing grades in order to collect unemployment checks.

We need to take the Hate out of politics and take the finger pointing out of all we do. We are all in this together, we live in the greatest nation on this planet. We have opened our borders to people from around the globe who have come here to prosper and build a better life for themselves. There are so many incredible american success stories that this country was built on. Let’s get that pride back and return our global status to that of best country on the planet. Let’s do it, however, with regard to future generations, let’s all vow to leave this planet a better place than when we got here; let’s clean up the messes that have been created before us and we have contributed to until now; let’s hold each other accountable; let’s end our debtor nation status; let’s get the dollar back to being a leading global currency; let’s set a goal of making our nations literacy rate the highest in the world; let’s unite our political parties, letting them each have their own idealogy, but stop the attach adds and unwillingness to unite in the halls of Congress; let’s stop our greed and self absorbed, reckless approach to how we live our lives (it is o.k. to celebrate our successes and enjoy our wealth, but let’s do it responsibly); let’s find a solution to our dependency on oil; let’s green up this planet; let’s continue to innovate and have fun doing it.

Let’s all just get along, from the top down and the bottom up, we are all in this together.