No one can be in any doubt that the market has changed dramatically over the last twelve months, not just in monetary terms but in ways which a year ago none of us would ever have imagined. Watching a TV programme the other evening, I particularly noted a comment made during a discussion on the impact of the credit crunch. It was “in the last recession Woolworths did not go bust.”
Optimism to the market for our staff and customers. In this first issue of ‘The Ideal Bathroom’ you will see we have added nine new big brand suppliers to our business so we can offer more options to our customers. We have committed to an even larger stock holding and more warehouse staff, complemented by new fuel efficient vans to deliver our. products. Five additional staff joined our sales office last month and we have just started a new proactive department with two full time staff.
But we did not stop there; we have launched the fifth edition of our “Super Trade” special offers brochure, which with 18 pages, is our biggest yet. We have. made a big commitment to “liven” up the market.
This made me wonder how many of us really know how to trade in a recession. What experience do any of us have in dealing with the current conditions? Not many I would think. We can all look back and try to copy what companies did in the early 80’s but how relevant is that for today?
Regrettably, we seem surrounded by gloom and doom. This does not help – we need to. start with a good attitude The credit crunch is a fact of life and its not just affecting the ‘bathroom’ industry. We all need to ensure that we do everything we can, . going forward and facing the challenges head on with a positive attitude.
There is help at hand. As a business we have looked at what we can do to bring and try to drive demand through our customers’ doors by printing 500,000 copies of ‘Create. Your Ideal Bathroom’. We have just published the second edition of our ‘Big Book of Displays’, full of superb display offers and. incentives.
These all offer something new, a positive approach, fresh topics of conversation – that’s what we all need. Next time any of us is talking about our industry, let’s consider the many positive things that we do well. Let’s .talk about how we are facing the. challenges and creating sales and, most importantly, talk. about plans for the future rather. than the difficulties of the present. Let’s go forward with a commitment to challenge ourselves to do ever better.
