How to ensure growth in a tough economy?

It is important that CEOs realize that a down economy is an opportunity. While I agree that all companies should manage their expense prudently, you cannot cut your way to prosperity. While focusing on costs, many companies inadvertently destroy their top-line, requiring them to put more pressure on the bottom-line which creates a spiral effect.

1. Planning – Have and work with a written business plan.
2. Core Customer – Identify who are your most profitable and loyal customer, and focus on those customers that will most likely buy your product or services in the quantity required for optimal profit.
3. Differentiate – make sure that your company has an uncommon offering that is targeted toward your core customer that your business will “own” and leverage.
4. Invest in your sales force – get rid of your “Turkeys” immediately. Invest whatever it takes to train and develop your “Eagles” to peak performance.
5. Improve the hiring process of the sales force – in our experience most companies do a very poor job in hiring salespeople. The assessment tools and interviewing processes they use produce poor success rates. This costs companies a lot of money on the top line.
6. Find top talent – evaluate every employee at least once a year. Get rid of your “C” players, and figure out which of your “B” players can be developed into “A” players.
7. Marketing – great public relations is what attracts potential business to your sales force.

If you grow the top-line while managing costs well then you will never have to worry about layoffs. Sign up for your free e-zine at www.globalstrategicmgmt.com that provides executives with essential strategic and organizational knowledge to help them make decisions.