“Things are getting tight,” Brett explained. “This market is a lot different from a year ago.”
“Yes,” I replied.
“The phone doesn’t ring anymore. We only prepare two or three bids a week, now instead of two or three a day. So, it’s no wonder that our sales are down, backlog dwindling.”
“It’s quite a problem. I am glad you are happy with it.”
Brett shifted in his chair. “Happy, I’m not happy about it.”
I smiled. “Sure you are. You know, it doesn’t have to be this way.”
Brett shifted again. “What do you mean? I just told you that our market has changed. Getting sales is tougher.”
“What would you have to do to maintain your sales volume, even if the phone doesn’t ring?” I asked.
Brett looked puzzled. “Well, we would have to get out of the office, go out and look for new customers, but we are already doing some of that. It’s just hard to do.”
“So, you are happy to have this problem. It’s a lot easier to live with the problem of lagging sales than it is to make the necessary changes that create sales in spite of the market.” -TF
Your posting reminds me of a poster I have in my office. There is a picture of a sailboat and underneath the boat it says, “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” Too many people complain about which way the wind is blowing and they forget that they have the power to adjust the sails. But …. they have to ACT and TAKE CONTROL.