Is it the Recession?

In the middle of the last recession, we met a CEO that we’ll call Peter. Peter was a brilliant PhD, respected throughout his industry for his knowledge and for the company he had built over the course of twenty years.

When we met him, Peter was discouraged. He wanted out of his company. His financials still looked strong, but he had lost some key clients. The company’s largest client was threatening to leave and was questioning all the work they had done in recent years. Peter’s team was equally tired of the big client. But Peter couldn’t even think about firing them.

He spent the entire first meeting with us talking about all the other ideas he had for new products and new businesses. As he talked about these new ventures, he became excited. His face lit up. He had us totally engrossed in these amazing ideas (which he had already started to launch—an issue in itself). But when we brought the conversation back to his existing company, his shoulders slumped back down. He became a different person, already defeated.

Over the course of the next several months, Peter and his team did many things. They didn’t fire the giant client, but they did work on their internal team—adding and subtracting in key places. They spent time listening to customers, ex-customers and industry leaders. They took a fresh look at their industry, their business and, most of all, their intellectual capital. They came to understand that their company had unique strengths that many in the industry valued very highly.

Armed with this new knowledge, the company went back out to the market with a new message and a renewed sense of confidence. They won new clients. They just about doubled their billing rates for most of their people. They received more and more attention in the industry, which of course led to more business. They didn’t rely on the economy to fuel their recovery—they built it from their own strengths.    Mary Adams   2007