Sharpening Your Tools in a Slow Economy

In my work as a business coach with recruiters, I’ve noticed two trends in terms of their reactions to the current market. The first group is using the grim news to excuse their lack of production and sour mood. They operate in a state of low grade panic and feel disempowered.

The second group, however, avoids television news and turns the market conditions into motivation to improve. I asked Tom, a member of my Mastermind program, how things were going, and the tone of his answer definitely falls into the latter category. Below is Tom's email, and I’ve added italics for emphasis.

Tom’s Email:

“Gary,

Thanks for the note. The short answer is things are tough but I think we can sustain.
With the change in the economic picture, many of my existing clients and a lot in the manufacturing field in general have stopped hiring, laid off or are just in a wait-and-see mode. However, this is not the story everywhere.

I'm almost of a mindset that this could be a blessing in disguise. As I kicked in to survival mode, I found that forcing the issue of tracking numbers, with me and my staff has been a major help. It’s really woken me up to the importance of tracking. My wife has been researching companies on the stock market that have reported new contracts or notable "good news." We have taken this information and turned it into our target companies list for prospecting.

It works and has resulted in new job orders with new companies that we have never spoken with. Most seem motivated and have openings that won't be filled just because some people are getting laid off in other markets. They actually need us and show it.

We have established our goals for each day/week and developed a large board and we all challenge each other daily. It is creating what could be a better-than-ever situation but we are mainly focused on the numbers that get the results we want. Those numbers are job orders, telephone interviews, personal interviews, and resumes submitted.

I used the "resumes submitted" because I found a correlation to the interviews. I also used "telephone interviews" because most of our clients use this as a screening process and there is also a correlation to the number of personal interviews" (sendouts). The activity tracking has been good for morale, too. If we reach our goals, we feel great and we also get the boost in activity that results from our work.

Thanks,

Tom”