By: steve

steve — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:53:31 +0000

It’s definitely going to be a bumpy road as we adjust to increased energy costs and inflationary pressures due to competition for resources from emerging economies. Steel is out of control right now, as are resin-based products. It remains to be seen what the upshot of the mortgage mess will be, but if the past is any indicator, you will probably see credit tightening from the big banks, especially if they’re afraid to loan each other money because they don’t know what is on each other’s balance sheet (asset backed securities, iffy commercial paper, consumer credit loans, etc.) Oh yes, and we’re at war. And it’s an election year. In other words; the shoes will continue to drop in 2008. My gut instinct is that the companies who will prosper will be those who have a clear understanding of how their products or services produce real value for their core customers– and who have an effective strategy for communicating with potential customers. Of course, this statement would hold true in boom times as well as bust– it’s just easier to see during the lean years. 2008 will be a great year for those who know how to get out there and hustle business. Car haulers need to invest time and energy retaining their most profitable business– and reaching out to other prospective customers who are of a similar profile. Anything that can free up time in their work week so they can do this sort of high-value sales and marketing is INCREDIBLY valuable. Time spent doing paperwork that could be automated using the proper software or web-application is time that can’t be spent finding new customers. What car haulers should look at is their top ten customers– what can they do to find more customers that are similar to these? One hour a day spent marketing by phone, email and US mail would yield over 250 hours of sales calls. If you know how to read a phone book and dial a phone, there is no way you can convince me that you can’t find 10 more customers in 250 hours. People need to find ways to stop fiddling around with paperwork and spend time growing their business. In my humble opinion, Steve the salesman.

Comments on: $FUEL PRICES MAKES THE NEWS$

By: steve