I also totally agree that the country is being talked into recession, firstly by Politicians and secondly by the Journalists in  Newspapers, Television and Radio.
We have not seen a recession at Cirrus Laser, we had a very good 2008 and this year has started positively with plenty of work. However, we are members of the Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) and our members in the Midlands who have automotive and yellow goods customers have seen turnover drop by 25% or more. JCB in particular have seen unprecedented reductions in plant purchases which has resulted in our Association members having to resort to 4 day working weeks. At Cirrus Laser we are not dependant on one industry sector and in 2008 our largest customer represented 12.7% of turnover. With a large variety of industries in which our customers trade we are in a better position than most companies in the sub-contract cutting business.
We use a telemarketing company based in Brighton to perform customer service and new customer prospecting. In the third and fourth quarters of 2008 we ramped up from 1.5 days per week to 2 days per week and in the first quarter of 2009 we have ramped even further with 3 days telemarketing / customer service. We actively follow-up all of our quotes, some customers are targeted each Friday to ensure we have not missed quotes or orders and this has worked today with a 'missed faxed' order from a big multi-national customer exporting worldwide with underwater exploration equipment. If you do not get out to the market place, if you do not talk to your customers then you are in danger of seeing a recession.

Dave Connaway
Cirrus Laser Ltd

Gentlemen

Matt's question is a good one... in my view businesses can easily talk themselves into trouble during a recession.  I also contend that if they catch themselves before they eat too far into their resources, it is straightforward to talk them back out of trouble too.

If anyone else experiences terminally slow response from suppliers that they would otherwise be happy to deal with, please let me know.  I will happily open a conversation up with them over a cup of coffee... this may be all they need to start thinking more positively. 

If not and they need some paid coaching, then I offer an introducer fee that can go to a company, individual or choice of charity as preferred.

This downturn probably provides the biggest opportunity for businesses that we will see this decade... Good luck to all!

David
david@rallystrategic.com

Last edited by Davidjfoster (08-01-2010 10:42:10)