[/caption]Anecdotally, we're hearing that it's vicious out there, yes, even more so than usual. Dog-eat-dog business conditions, shall we say? We're suffering (hopefully) the last moans of a long, wearisome recession, and after all that business has contended with during 2008 and 2009, the fun-meter of commercial endeavor is running on low for many a company.
Certainly, brand loyalty has taken a hit: Just four out of 10 brands held on to at least half of their highly loyal customers from 2007 to 2008, according to the study from Catalina Marketing Corp's CHKHDC.UL Pointer Media Network, which gathers purchasing data at 23,000 stores nationwide. But the news is more dire than that; the power has shifted away from companies with even the greatest brands. As George F. Colony, CEO of Forrester Research says, "You can no longer own your customer -- your customer will own you." This is true in B2B situations as well as B2C; the win-win balance is way off, bad customers are ruling the roost and, as social media marketer Jeramiah Owyang blogs, sometimes the seller must cut the cord - even during times when you'd think every penny was worth tolerating a lot of nonsense and indignity to attain. He's talking to marketing firms, "hearing from a few vendors and agencies, that they’re letting go of their least wanted clients. Why? During a recession, vendors are focused on being efficient with all resources, and in some cases, some clients are net negative in time, energy, resources, and morale." Net negative - that's a good term to remember.
Too, many of the 8.2 million employees who've lost their jobs during this slump are unconvinced that their loyalty to the job meant much when times were tough. To quote a line from the upcoming movie Up In the Air, a fired employee asks the hired gun who's there to dismiss him, "What are you going to do this weekend? You have money in your bank? You got gas in your gas tank? You going to take your kids out to Chuck E. Cheese?"
It's not just actions, though, it's attitude. How many of your price discussions with suppliers or customers have turned unpleasant? How much of the integral way you run processes has been questioned and turned inside out by customers demanding to "see it done better"? How many days do you and your associates go home exhausted and stressed?
There's another viewpoint about the current economic climate and its impact on win-win relationships, however. Some businesspeople believe that the recession will forge new, stronger partnerships as business becomes more reliant on very solid partners to get the job done in a world of scarcity.Richard Lambert, Director-General of CBI, the UK's leading business organization, says that, "In a more collaborative, less transactional world, closer relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders look like becoming the new norm."
At vSA, we suspect it'll cut both ways for some time to come - scrappy, messy business deals for many, collaboration for a few lucky others. Firms that want to become increasingly vital and not be pushed around like the youngest kid on the playground must identify their genuine strengths, empower themselves with offerings as unique as they can muster and be nimble... ever more nimble.
Your thoughts?
