What crisis?
What crisis?
It’s Friday night – 10:32pm to be exact. I didn’t have time to digest all the bad news, so I was catching up on this week’s emails, news articles, and such before I went to bed.
Just in case you missed it, the automotive market is spiraling downward, there are rumors that GM may declare bankruptcy, Toyota was down 37% in September, and Automotive News published an article that 1 in 5 dealerships could be out of business by the end of 2008.
Over the course of the week, I had the chance to call some colleagues, former co-workers and some people who I respect and ask a simple question. How are your companies going to handle this crisis and what advice do you have? Almost all of them answered the same way, which was to substantially cut expenses, let some people go, cancel the Christmas party, postpone all capital investments until next year (if ever), etc. In simple terms, they said they were going to batten down the hatches and hopefully ride out the storm, and advised we do the same. After all, that’s the most prudent and popular course of action.
After hearing them out, most asked what Team Velocity was planning to do. So I took a breath…and just told them the truth.
First, I said we were committed to our original plans and still have major plans for growth during the rest of 2008 and 2009. I told them we bill about 80 clients today, and by the end of the year we would easily have 100, and by the end of the first quarter of 2009, we would have 125. I further explained what we have done so far…we recently hired 3 new salespeople in the last 60 days; we hired another who starts on Monday and another on November 1. Yes, that’s total of 5 new and talented salespeople. We just tore down our employee lounge and built 6 new offices for future production and design members of Team V. We just changed insurance programs to bear more of the cost of health insurance so our employees will be happier and even partnered with Lifetime Fitness for paid memberships. We have also just approved major investments in equipment and a substantial software upgrade that allows for more campaigns to process to our Digital printers at once. We may even buy a 3rd IGEN Digital Printer from Xerox. Oh, I almost forgot to mention we just launched an awesome restaurant marketing division called www.goOut2eat.com and we think it’s the perfect time to invest in a full service digital advertising agency catered to large dealerships. Then I paused for breath….
Yes, I told them the absolute truth at how much we recently invested…all for the future growth of our company, our employees and our clients.
And you know what they asked me… “Are you stupid? Can’t you read? Don’t you know what’s going on? Do you live on the same planet as I do? If you are going to throw away money, can I have some?”
“Or do you and Budd know something we don’t?”
I answered “NO” to every question, except the last one. To that important question I answered, “YES.”
Budd and I know Team Velocity can never provide value to itself, without first providing value to our employees and clients. I told them, you can’t “cut” your way to value; you have to invest and make sure that your employees are happy and your clients are truly benefiting from your services. This is the most important part – I told tem all that if you can provide real value to your clients– you can grow a business in any market, especially in a tough market when everyone else is quitting and giving up.
They said, “Sounds pretty optimistic, good luck with that plan.”
So, here it is in a nutshell. We know we are helping our best clients beat the market; and this is an incredible opportunity to help them even further. It’s also a wonderful time to gain new clients – because they desperately need a winning marketing strategy right now. They don’t need a mail strategy; they don’t need a self-serving direct mail company or advertising vendor who pushes them products. What our current and prospective clients really need is a cost-effective marketing strategy for their survival and growth.
Right now, most car dealers and business owners are scared to death; they need to know they can count on our Team. Let’s create value for them, let’s be better than we have ever been. Let’s invest in what they need. Let’s help them grow their business in sales and service. Let’s be smart. Let’s be creative and let’s work harder than ever before for them. Let’s be the best Team Velocity can be for them – not us.
In turn, they will repay us with new business and referrals and our team will prosper.
It all starts with our incredible sales team – they live on the front lines. Let’s give them every ounce of help and support to go tackle this tough market. We have 79 clients today – lets help them make that 100 by the end of the year. We know we can do this!
Team Velocity has invested heavily in our growth, and we are counting on our leadership and sales team to deliver that growth. We are not cutting back on our projections, not for a minute or a day. We are too good and the automotive market needs good companies right now. With Budd as our fearless and talented leader – Team V is moving forward with a growth strategy for both our clients and our company. He is spending an incredible amount of time working on this effort. We will invest. We will add clients. We will help those clients grow and survive in this economy and we will take care of those clients that trust us with their precious marketing budgets.
Then, I will call all those friends and colleagues back, and help them understand that Team Velocity chose not to participate in the negativity of the economy. We choose to believe in ourselves, our abilities, and our desire to provide real value to our clients – and we do.
Let’s go!
db
It’s Friday night – 10:32pm to be exact. I didn’t have time to digest all the bad news, so I was catching up on this week’s emails, news articles, and such before I went to bed.
Just in case you missed it, the automotive market is spiraling downward, there are rumors that GM may declare bankruptcy, Toyota was down 37% in September, and Automotive News published an article that 1 in 5 dealerships could be out of business by the end of 2008.
Over the course of the week, I had the chance to call some colleagues, former co-workers and some people who I respect and ask a simple question. How are your companies going to handle this crisis and what advice do you have? Almost all of them answered the same way, which was to substantially cut expenses, let some people go, cancel the Christmas party, postpone all capital investments until next year (if ever), etc. In simple terms, they said they were going to batten down the hatches and hopefully ride out the storm, and advised we do the same. After all, that’s the most prudent and popular course of action.
After hearing them out, most asked what Team Velocity was planning to do. So I took a breath…and just told them the truth.
First, I said we were committed to our original plans and still have major plans for growth during the rest of 2008 and 2009. I told them we bill about 80 clients today, and by the end of the year we would easily have 100, and by the end of the first quarter of 2009, we would have 125. I further explained what we have done so far…we recently hired 3 new salespeople in the last 60 days; we hired another who starts on Monday and another on November 1. Yes, that’s total of 5 new and talented salespeople. We just tore down our employee lounge and built 6 new offices for future production and design members of Team V. We just changed insurance programs to bear more of the cost of health insurance so our employees will be happier and even partnered with Lifetime Fitness for paid memberships. We have also just approved major investments in equipment and a substantial software upgrade that allows for more campaigns to process to our Digital printers at once. We may even buy a 3rd IGEN Digital Printer from Xerox. Oh, I almost forgot to mention we just launched an awesome restaurant marketing division called www.goOut2eat.com and we think it’s the perfect time to invest in a full service digital advertising agency catered to large dealerships. Then I paused for breath….
Yes, I told them the absolute truth at how much we recently invested…all for the future growth of our company, our employees and our clients.
And you know what they asked me… “Are you stupid? Can’t you read? Don’t you know what’s going on? Do you live on the same planet as I do? If you are going to throw away money, can I have some?”
“Or do you and Budd know something we don’t?”
I answered “NO” to every question, except the last one. To that important question I answered, “YES.”
Budd and I know Team Velocity can never provide value to itself, without first providing value to our employees and clients. I told them, you can’t “cut” your way to value; you have to invest and make sure that your employees are happy and your clients are truly benefiting from your services. This is the most important part – I told tem all that if you can provide real value to your clients– you can grow a business in any market, especially in a tough market when everyone else is quitting and giving up.
They said, “Sounds pretty optimistic, good luck with that plan.”
So, here it is in a nutshell. We know we are helping our best clients beat the market; and this is an incredible opportunity to help them even further. It’s also a wonderful time to gain new clients – because they desperately need a winning marketing strategy right now. They don’t need a mail strategy; they don’t need a self-serving direct mail company or advertising vendor who pushes them products. What our current and prospective clients really need is a cost-effective marketing strategy for their survival and growth.
Right now, most car dealers and business owners are scared to death; they need to know they can count on our Team. Let’s create value for them, let’s be better than we have ever been. Let’s invest in what they need. Let’s help them grow their business in sales and service. Let’s be smart. Let’s be creative and let’s work harder than ever before for them. Let’s be the best Team Velocity can be for them – not us.
In turn, they will repay us with new business and referrals and our team will prosper.
It all starts with our incredible sales team – they live on the front lines. Let’s give them every ounce of help and support to go tackle this tough market. We have 79 clients today – lets help them make that 100 by the end of the year. We know we can do this!
Team Velocity has invested heavily in our growth, and we are counting on our leadership and sales team to deliver that growth. We are not cutting back on our projections, not for a minute or a day. We are too good and the automotive market needs good companies right now. With Budd as our fearless and talented leader – Team V is moving forward with a growth strategy for both our clients and our company. He is spending an incredible amount of time working on this effort. We will invest. We will add clients. We will help those clients grow and survive in this economy and we will take care of those clients that trust us with their precious marketing budgets.
Then, I will call all those friends and colleagues back, and help them understand that Team Velocity chose not to participate in the negativity of the economy. We choose to believe in ourselves, our abilities, and our desire to provide real value to our clients – and we do.
Let’s go!
db
Dave, I'M IN!!!
That was awesome! That's a perfect example why you and Budd have been so successful.
Pat
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