Recently, an IFA of my acquaintance told me just how thoroughly depressing he was finding carrying out business in the current challenging climate.
I am certain he is not alone in feeling negative right now, but his near-apocalyptic view of the world in which we presently live and work made me reflect upon the particular psychological implications presented by the depressed economy for small business owners and self-employed people.
Psychology is wrapped up in every sale ever made. It is most frequently referred to in business as brand. I have written before at length about self-employed and small business brands. No matter what size your business is, your clients make a partly emotional decision when they choose to deal with you rather than someone else.
This is what differentiates your business and reinforces a client’s feeling that they have made a good decision. It also justifies to them why they might want to come back for more. It answers the question “why do these people choose to deal with me?”
They see something in you they like and that influences and ratifies the choice they have made. It is about more than products – it is about the way we deliver our business. Now consider the predicament of you not feeling on top of your game, and the effect that might have on attracting new business.
We are only too aware that in tough times such as we currently have, few people are keen to invest and most still have their eyes firmly fixed on managing costs, rather than looking at growth. This is very much the case with smaller businesses, for whom there is no clear path for a return to growth.
Intermediaries have to contend with not only the impact of a banking crisis of hitherto unseen proportions, but also regulation which had already diminished their ability to process business quickly and significantly lowered revenues.
Entering new product areas is crucial and money is there to be made, but this takes time and often new qualifications, and the widely anticipated read across of the Retail Distribution Review and its attendant legislation will present further challenges
to revenue growth.
Survival is the key, but as my IFA acquaintance’s phone call betrayed, this is not always easy. Reinventing reasons for clients to deal with your business in markets such as these is doubly hard when your personality is the reason they choose you over others in the first place.
Many banks will rebrand to distance themselves from their recent past. Small company owners cannot hide behind that kind of exercise. The outward face of the company is not changing and your clients have bought into you personally.
It is relatively easy to be good company and provide sound counsel when the market is booming. It is however much more difficult when things are harder. Even the most practised smile cannot hide a downbeat disposition and people pick up on these things. As any fool knows, you never pull when you’re desperate.
So is the answer to bury yourself in positive activity? In part, yes, but don’t just conduct “me too” marketing and new business development programmes. It is just as worthwhile spending some time focusing on the most important customer-facing person in your organisation – you – and making sure you are doing what you need to do to stay positive in all aspects of your life, not just your business.
People buy success and there is little point meeting clients or networking and leaving people feeling worse than they did before you arrived. Successful survival
means looking after your own wellbeing, as well as your clients.
Matt Smith is managing director of WPB Creative
