Uncertainty is the new normal
Executives from across the globe - 470 of them - were asked a simple question ...
Which supplier is most likely to get work from you in tough times as compared to prosperous times?
The Financial Times and Doremus collaborated on the survey called Decision Dynamics.
Interestingly the top answer was not the cheapest supplier, the one who could prove ROI, or even the supplier with the best or longest relationship.
The supplier most likely to get work from these decision makers in tough times is the supplier most proactive in helping their clients.
This runs a highlighter pen over the new business reality. Business has never been more complicated, demanding or high stakes.
One of the impacts of the global economic meltdown is that successfully navigating the new business landscape will require skills and insights in which many senior executives do not feel entirely fluent. Collaborative thinking by smart people is going to be essential to creating short and long term success.
Business communications agencies in particular, with their day-to-day experience creating solutions to complex business problems, are in a unique position to offer that "proactive help" to business decision makers. Here are some thoughts on what that type of help may mean:
Helping clients accept ambiguity as the new normal. As one professor at a leading business school put it, "The ability to manage the unknowable will be core to future leadership."
Adhering to a nimble framework. Companies that can easily change their structure to meet market demands have the advantage over the over-layered.
Restoring internal relationships. A vital step for those companies recently downsized and where employees have been multi-tasked, or companies that have recently been restructured. A strong and committed internal workforce ensures maximum effectiveness ... particularly as new competitors emerge.
Rebuilding trust with external audiences such as investors, customers and prospects ... constituencies that may feel betrayed or neglected from corporate fallout.
Helping to identify priorities and create a strategy to achieve them amidst an environment that is constantly in flux. A seasoned and insightful perspective from a trusted partner helps the forest emerge through the trees.
As business decision makers navigate the unchartered course ahead, communications that interact, create a dialog, and deliver a satisfying experience for internal and external audiences will go far toward staking a successful claim for clients in the ambiguous new normal.
Business communications can clearly play a powerful role in readying companies to take on new challenges as they prepare now for short and long term financial success.
In an uncertain world, this is one certainty.
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