Starting when I was 12 and through my teens, I used to caddy and work in the bag room at Salem Country Club, a very nice private golf course in lovely Peabody, MA (go Tanners!).
There was this one member, Mr. MacTavish (name changed to protect the guilty), who would come in seething about his round of golf. He was a former club champion and somewhere around a 2 handicap. He used to throw his clubs at us to clean them as he complained to his friends about that shot he missed on the 17th. “If I got up and down from the bunker I would have had a good round. Damn lip on the bunker made me go from par to double bogey. Grrrrr….”
The man might have scored under par on 17 of 18 holes, but he seemed about as happy as my dog at bath time because he missed a shot. (Of course, regardless of his mood, he didn’t tip. The MacTavish…not the dog.)
Then there was Dr. Vontzalides (actual name used to praise the praiseworthy). He’d invariably come back from a round of golf in a good mood. “Did you see that shot I had on the 11th? Never knocked it so stiff from 175 yards before in my life.” Of course Dr. Vontzalides was a terrible golfer — constant golf lessons notwithstanding — and might have scored 120 on the round over and above all his mulligans. And he always had 2 bucks for the kid.
Last week I was speaking with a professional at a major accounting firm. After nearly a decade in the profession, she is just now beginning to get started with business development and revenue generation. I told her the Dr. Vontzalides story for two reasons:
- She was beating herself up for everything she tried that didn’t seem to work.
- She was only playing one hole at a time.
Right now her ability to succeed in business development is about as good as Dr. Vontzalides’ ability to succeed on the course. She’s new at it. She’s going to have a lot of misses. Unlike accounting, where many accountants get virtually everything “right” every day, business development is fraught with dead ends and lost deals. It’s just how it goes, and she needed to stop taking it so personally.
If she played 18 holes, new at this as she is, she’d knock it stiff to the pin from 175 here and there. However, she was only playing 1 hole at a time. I suggested to her, instead of making 2 phone calls over a 2-day period, make 20 and send 20 emails. Then join the board of a group she’s already involved with and plan an event, and contact 20 associations with a proposal for a speech at an upcoming event. Send 5 lunch invitations to business contacts she already has.
If she adds more activity, she’ll give herself more chances of succeeding while, at the same time, improve her skills with all the practice.
Then she can celebrate when fortune favors her with success, and forget about all the shots that didn’t pan out (yet).
And don’t forget to tip the kid washing your clubs.
As of the writing of this post, the top headline on Yahoo! news is Oil soars on dollar, Energy Dep’t report on falling supplies. The top video is Floods threaten economic disaster in Midwest. Dow down 1.4%. Nasdaq down 1.9%.
Regardless of whether or not we are actually in a recession, the economic news and outlook hasn’t been good for about a year. As I speak with leaders of professional service business, most of them haven’t reported ill effects on their firms from the economy. Still, they’re nervous. And a case of the yips across a senior management suite can lead to all sorts of different behaviors, some good, some not so good.
For those of you who are feeling the crunch to “do something,” here are some thoughts to help you avoid common mistakes and to take advantages of opportunities:
Don’t overreact: When things are good, they’re not necessarily as good as you think. When things are bad, they’re not necessarily as bad as you think. Just because it’s been slow for a few months, or you think it might slow down soon, don’t start making wild decisions or cuts. Keep a steady head about what’s really going on. Look past the wild swings in revenue (and enthusiasm and attitudes of team members) that might be caused by short-term factors.
Redouble your marketing efforts: As a marketing consultant and advocate, this might seem self serving. I don’t mean it that way. I’m merely suggesting that during any economy, firms can grow faster and win more clients if they step up their marketing energy. Something about an economic slowdown seems to cause leaders at firms to focus inwardly. They self-analyze, having meeting after meeting about strategic direction, salaries and cost structure. When it comes to business development they say, “It’s tough out there. I’m getting less action in the market than ever.” So both marketing staffs and professionals who should be bringing in clients at firms slow down and do less.
This time and energy would have been better spent focusing outwardly, working to improve brand, fill the pipeline, and bring in more clients. If you can stop doubting yourself and your value, stop whining about how tough it is out there, and simply focus the firm on energetic marketing and business development, you may find that’s all you need to weather the storm.
Take advantage of opportunity for change: Service firms “embrace change” about as enthusiastically as the sports community of Mexico embraces curling. However, service firms often shed their reluctance to change and propensity for slow decision making when faced with a business slowdown.
The halls at most service firms are abuzz with “what needs to happen to make this place better” during all economic conditions. When things are good, unproductive staff are often left to keep working. Sluggish marketing is allowed to plod along like the Old Gray Mare. Subpar business units and initiatives keep on keeping on. And bold, innovative initiatives die in committee because they’re “too risky.”
Inertia can be a great barrier to change. “All is well, why shake things up?” If you’re the leader when all is not well, inertia is often replaced with a mandate for change. Take the opportunity to clean house, tighten the ship, and start new initiatives that will move the firm forward. As you approach making changes big and small, keep the following one question in mind, “If I make these changes and the economy and business stabilizes, will we be in better shape or worse when things turn around?”
If the answer is “better,” make the changes and make them decisively. A slow time at the company is often the best time to reshape the firm and make it stronger for the present and future.
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