Sure, the economy is bad. But depending on your sector, we have already bottomed out or are close. Other sectors are definitely headed up.
But… I keep hearing about and experiencing first hand the delays in making business decisions. I just heard Thursday from a reputable source about a firm that has delayed buying a $300,000 machine, even though it’s “on sale” for $200,000. This is a company that can easily part with the cash and my source would know.
It’s unmistakeable that confidence weighs heavily on business decisions. Think about it. Have you delayed spending just because you don’t have a good feeling about things?
I’m not advocating that we revert to the unbridled consumerism of the last decade. Hey, if you don’t have it, don’t spend it. Frankly, I like the trend – moving from a national net savings rate that’s negative to one that is positive. That’s an excellent trend. But if you do have it, get going and do your part to help us get things moving.
The Vistage CEO Confidence Index shows an improvement in CEO confidence for the 3rd straight quarter. Now that’s good news. Check out the full report. http://bit.ly/SXpsk
Relative to enagement programs, I can’t help but think that the lack of good, solid metrics is paralyzing industry. “Can I confidently redeploy my incentive, meeting, loyalty program, etc?”
More later…