UK is still in recession, but what about the opportunities…
The figures out on Friday informed us we’re still officially recessed /recessive (?!), but it was interesting that everyone seemed to be expecting better news. Is there better news coming, or are we still doomed to stay wading around in our own economic mire a while longer…?
Our feeling is that yes, it will take a while more, but that’s no reason to lose the will to live now, not when we’ve come this far!
As we know (and repeat as our mantra), recession is merely CHANGE. So what do we do when change happens? (and no, we don’t turn to Zurich) We look for the opportunities. And they abound now. Oh yes they do!
One of these opportunities exist within SERVICE, one of my pet bug bears. Customer service, I’ve argued for a long time, is average to poor in this country. Like sport, we are not naturally good at it – it needs work. I blame empire mentality, mostly – we’ve just spent too long being out there, taking over places and being in charge. Hubris not humility. Service doesn’t sit well on our shoulders – sadly, even in the 21st century – we just haven’t turned it into a virtue yet – not as a nation. My mum used to say to be “if you can’t be there with a glad heart, don’t be there at all” and she was right. Whatever you need to do to change your mindset, so that the service you offer is your pride and joy – well, we must do it! And NOW, while the chips are down (or whatever the thinned down, budget chips are currently doing with themselves).
The opportunity exists out there for the companies that do. And there are some pretty sore industries that surely, surely need to embrace all the opportunities they can find right now. The banking industry springs to mind, for one …
The bank that comes up with some clearly differentiated, customer-focused products that actually help a customer take control of his/her finances to not only save more easily and efficiently but also to manage and speculate better will be the bank I choose to spend the rest of my life with. That’s a promise.
And if they can manage to make me feel like a valued customer, regardless of whether I have £50k in the black or £5k in the red, then I will consider spending half of my next life with them too.
