Baron Rothschild, an 18th century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family, is credited with saying that “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”
He should know. Rothschild made a fortune buying in the panic that followed the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon. But that’s not the whole story. The original quote is believed to be “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.”
This is contrarian investing at its heart – the strongly held belief that the worse things seem in the market, the better the opportunities are for profit.
When there is panic or uncertainly managers tend to avoid decisions and freeze hiring and marketing! This makes it a great time for aggressive marketers and recruiters to reap the spoils while everyone is standing around and wringing their hands.
Business doesn’t like change or uncertainty and if you are working hard to sell your products or services this will be a frustrating time. So, what is the answer? Keep your head down and wait? No!
The Brexit result means that business faces uncertainty but there is no doubt that change will be coming. Most businesses will look to prepare for change by improving systems, skills, efficiencies and lowering costs.
This means that most businesses will be more open to listening to options from alternative suppliers. This is the opportunity! The silver lining in the dark Brexit cloud!
Under normal conditions the Power of Incumbency makes it six times harder to win as a supplier even when promising a superior offering. Selling against an established supplier can take years of work. Often in normal times businesses are reluctant to even check suppliers because even though there are better options there is not enough pain to bother. During uncertainty like Brexit or during recession all bets are off and most companies will become much more open to reviewing suppliers and options. This will be especially true for our customers outside the UK!
Incumbency is not the advantage it used to be. Just five years ago, incumbent outsourcing service providers retained their contract at the point of renewal more than 80 percent of the time. A provider had to be a complete disaster before clients would consider tossing them out. Today, not even 50 percent of incumbent providers retain the business. Even though the power of incumbency is diminishing in a changing world it is still a powerful sales factor.
What does this mean?
Now is the time to sell harder and more persistently than ever! Make more noise, raise your profile and develop the most compelling message for your business.
What about your existing business?
The reality is that most business give very little attention to existing customers putting most of the energy into finding new accounts. During times of change your existing customers are far more likely to check your offering too! Connect with existing customers now! If you have the option to improve product of service offering do that. Develop flexibility on terms & conditions, pricing, delivery – everything! Be ready for a challenged! This can also be a great time to recruit top salespeople as your competitors stumble.
During every dramatic market change there are winners and losers – prepare and be a winner!