THE NEW NORMAL
The presidential election just concluded — some are happy while others are disappointed. The fact is, very few of us are going to leave the country or switch to a new career anytime soon. Figure it out for your situation and recommit to what’s now being called “The New Normal.” Business will never be the same again. Things are upside down and reversed from what they were. Businesses are no longer looking from the inside out at customers but are now all about looking from the customer’s views back at the business.
The Internet and instant delivery of information to customers’ palms now force businesses to be more competitive and transparent. Push a façade of smoke-and-mirrors out into commerce and the truth-seeking Internet chatter will spread the word virally — and kill you. Be true to your customers and your community, and you will reap the benefits in word-of-mouth and return business.
It’s probably time to sit your team down and have a chalk talk about what needs to change. It’s halftime, and the home team is down on the scoreboard. Showing unwavering confidence, then leading with a specific plan by assigning fundamental duties, will rally the troops and push you forward with a renewed winning effort.
You may have survived the recession, but will you survive the recovery? Those who doubt themselves and their team will perish in this second half. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Forces in the second half of World War II, coached his troops fighting against the Nazis by stating, “To get where we’ve never been, we must do what we’ve never done.”
Break!
This column originally appeared in the December 2012 issue of Dealernews.
