Many economies around the world have been hit hard, and are still slowly working to improve, although difficulties abound. Our clients were informed about the impending state of deficits and the impact on local and foreign growth opportunities in 2006, before many common statistics like debt-to-GDP and median-age became popular in the news.
But what lies ahead? Though of course no one can see the future, we have several recommendations of what to prepare for, and how, but in summary, we tell our clients to reduce your debt, invest in plant or R&D, and if you were prepared and able to do so, strategically purchase assets for the future, many of which are discounted today due to asset deflation. Do not take any of your customers for granted, and work extra hard to keep them -- this last point will not only help now, but when we emerge from our economic difficulties.
We will add some articles on the financial research we have performed, and more details of why what are recommending what we do. We have been busy working on several telecom projects, helping to extend the life of legacy equipment while keeping costs low for operators, and will write about some of that. In the meantime, have a look at our new website, and contact us if we can be of any assistance.
But what lies ahead? Though of course no one can see the future, we have several recommendations of what to prepare for, and how, but in summary, we tell our clients to reduce your debt, invest in plant or R&D, and if you were prepared and able to do so, strategically purchase assets for the future, many of which are discounted today due to asset deflation. Do not take any of your customers for granted, and work extra hard to keep them -- this last point will not only help now, but when we emerge from our economic difficulties.
We will add some articles on the financial research we have performed, and more details of why what are recommending what we do. We have been busy working on several telecom projects, helping to extend the life of legacy equipment while keeping costs low for operators, and will write about some of that. In the meantime, have a look at our new website, and contact us if we can be of any assistance.
Telecom
If 10 years of stock equity crashes, sales declines and fickle regulatory policy weren’t enough, there are still several large threats left for traditional telecom providers. Bailouts are not an option (yet -- but they may be needed one day). Cash flow used to be sufficient to fund new networks upgrades, but may soon be insufficient. See our Broadband: A Review article on the Consulting page to learn a little bit more about the future of telecom and broadband, which itself is particularly important due to its high-margin impact on telecom revenues.
Retail
There are many opinions about the effects of higher unemployment, lower credit and uncertain buying trends, but simply encouraging employees to do “figure eights”, pushing UPT’s and comps is not enough, and really never has been. What is clear to us is that you must address several principles to maximize sales: Improve your service, watch your costs and listen to your customers. It sounds simple, and is probably already written into your rule book, but it seems to be human nature to perpetually overlook these hallmarks of success. Look around at our Marketing and Operations pages to help generate some ideas of how to overcome the doldrums of simply keeping customer's satisfied, and instead committed.