I have had the opportunity to discuss the current state of the economy with marketing and management people at many industrial companies this year. At the NAHAD Annual Meeting, I particularly had a chance to discuss business first hand with dozens of such experts.
I also had the opportunity to attend an hour-long presentation by Jim Meil, Director of Research at Eaton Corporation on the state of the economy and the forecast for the near future. His presentation certainly gave room for optimism. As I heard it, there are several green shoots that may indicate the Springtime of a recovery. Let's hope so.
Anyway, what do we do in the meantime? What most industry marketers are telling me is that we need to focus on what we do best, making and selling products. We must listen to our customers and provided what they need. We need to examine where we can provide better products and services that our competitors do and thus gain new customers. Continued hard work and attending to customers needs are critical now and always.
With this approach, when a recovery really happens, our companies will not only be poised for growth and gain, we will be positioned for increased sales and market share because of the new-found customers. One individual pointed out to me that our recovery will not only be based on what we do during the downturn but what we did leading into it.
This is a time for opportunity because if we are at the bottom of a cycle and soon to be turning upward, this is a time to position for growth. Yes it may be the worst of times in decades, but business must take a hard look at what they do best, keep doing it, and listen to what their customers want.
Let's get going.
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