Opportunities, Landmines and Fallout when the Economy Shrinks by 30%

Here’s what we are seeing from our vantage point serving clients at Camares. One thing is for sure: weird times demand, weirdly creative approaches 🙂 You may be experiencing the same things or not — do comment! Our collective knowledge is power! Here’re my observations in random order…

1. Boom or bust and very little in between! You may be out there pushing hard, pounding the email and the phone and…crickets. Things are wildly uneven right now. Some businesses are going gangbusters: I know a landscaper who’s overwhelmed with work transforming people’s homes into staycation hotel properties. But many business owners are wondering if now is not the time to hang up their spurs. This is a terrifying moment. Deep inside terrifying moments are seeds of opportunity. Listen to those crickets and consider a business transformation. I started Camares with the fax machine and survived a dozen white-knuckle terrifying busts — though we are still true to our core, Camares is a very different company today. Not one, but multiple transformations are the reasons why. Sure it’s exhausting, have you seen how grey I am? But if I can do it…
2. Clients gone mad! I’ve heard it from others, I’ve seen it myself, hell, I’ve had a client-gone-mad moment in the last few months myself! One thing we’d like to think we can count on from our colleagues is professionalism — but this is a truly crazy time. Stress levels are at all time highs across our entire lives. Things that were once mild annoyances are sending folks off the rails. Meltdowns seem to erupt from nowhere. So, let’s cut each other some slack. Suggest a pause. Revisit the topic the next day. We’re all in this together!
3. Google Search Ad prices have dropped — with no one bidding or advertising it is an amazing time to advertise on Google. I haven’t seen cost per clicks so low since the dawn of the search engine (which was a couple of decades after the dawn of the fax machine 🙂
4. Advertising when no one is buying — well sure, that seems a stupid, but prospects are still active, if not buying, they are considering what they might want to buy when our world settles down. If ad buys are cheap and you have the budget, consider it a divine branding opportunity.
5. Linkedin remains a cess pool of irrelevance, only now its a sewer break — OK I’ve never been a fan. And, yes there are some exceptions where Linkedin user groups are vibrant and relevant, so I’m not a total naysayer. But before Covid, Linkedin was hyper promotional — now with so many panicked and out of work — its a super spreader event. Wear a mask, or better yet, quarantine yourself from it. (And yes, yes, I see the irony that I’m posting this on Linkedin, LOL, but you’ll find even more interesting stuff on my blog.)
6. If not Linkedin what can you do to connect? How about old fashioned one-to-one E-Mail? Especially if you’re selling B-to-B, there has never been a more meaningful time to reach out directly, with a personal and relevant message from you to a colleague. Connect, who knows what might emerge!
7. Ring Ring Ring! If you’re sick and tired ofZoom (aren’t we all?) and we can no longer meet over coffee, breakfast or lunch, just pick up the damned phone and spontaneously call a colleague. Yesterday I spent 20 very enjoyable minutes connecting with an old colleague. It was good — no make that great! We uncovered some mutually beneficial opportunities. Groovy!

So, what’s happening in your business life? Comment, email or call me I would LOVE to hear from you!