Last Fall some of the ‘scapers I spoke with assured me that, while the stock market was in free fall, they had yet to see any impact on their client base.  In fact, they told me that no matter what their clients were loyal, loved them, and they didn’t forsee any fallout. 

What a different story 4 months later.  Now, scapers tell me they cringe when the phone rings.  Is it another cancellation?  Cutback?  Now, instead of going out on calls for new jobs, they are busy doing damage control.  So, whether it is just a small hit, or widespread, everyone is concerned.  Very concerned.  Even companies in relatively stable markets are being hit and everyone asks me, "What should I do?"

What should you do?  Well, along with being proactive and calling on all your clients in advance to get a feel for what is happening, I suggest coming up with Two (2) Plans of Action.  The first Plan is the aforementioned damage control.  The second is a Coping Plan combined with a What Else Can We Offer Plan. 

The Coping part asks what you will do to preserve dollars if a worst case scenario occurs.  Who will you let go or cut back on hours, what smaller facility can you adopt, what services can you live  without, and so on.  The second part asks you to look at your market and see what other services can you offer your current clients such as Exterior, Patioscapes, Green Roofs, even, as one company shared with me yesterday, adding Cleaning Services.  This last is pretty extreme, I know, but not totally out of the question.  Its all about coming up with ways to add income.  Some won’t work for you in your particular market, some might.  It is up to you as the Owner/Leader to look at all possibilities.

Pleasant?  No. Fun?  No.  Necessary?  Yes, because this situation is not going to go away soon and the well prepared is the one who will survive.  So, Heads Up.  And, remember, you did not do anything wrong.  It is just the way things are.  Now go out there and get ‘em, Tigers.