www.sdchamber.org

Membership Update
By Doug Holman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing

If you are like most everyone I am talking with, things are getting tight. Clients and prospective clients are unsure what to do and their indecision is frustrating.  In the last few days I have heard or read the expression “in these uncertain economic times” a minimum of five times a day. By now you have heard the pundits referring to our current national situation as the “perfect storm.”  I am not a sailor, but I do know that the perfect storm is a real crisis if you are on the high seas when it manifests itself.

I asked a friend who used to captain tankers what his options were during such a storm and he told me the following:

1. Hunker-down or ride it out.  In essence, get as comfortable as possible before you get swallowed by the seas.
2. Everyone overboard. This is a quicker way to get the result from hunker-down.
3. All hands on deck or man your stations.  This is taking a proactive approach to finding an escape route and not going under.

Businesses are faced with these same decisions with no guarantee of survival. The “perfect storm” analogy plays out as follows:

1. Hunker-down is freezing all spending and waiting out the crisis. The result will be reduced revenue and eventual total failure.
2. Everyone overboard is a downsizing of personnel. Some will decide to layoff their teams to cut costs. Of course revenues will suffer and few if any will come back to work if and when the crisis ends.
3. All hands on deck is focusing on what is important – customers, product delivery, prospecting and visibility. It is relying on what has worked over and over.

We have had huge crowds at all of our networking events this year. That means many of you are taking action. If you have not joined us, there is still plenty of room. We at the Chamber, as well as many other members, appreciate what you are facing. We’ll continue to host meaningful events in order to provide numerous solutions to your networking and visibility needs.

As always, I look forward our next opportunity to see each other.