One day, Anthony learned that his company had its most profitable quarter since he took on the role of CEO four years ago.
Two weeks later, as Anthony’s company blew past its goal by the 22nd of that same month, he celebrated by buying the car he’d been fantasizing about for months – an arctic white 3LT Corvette.
The contract manufacturing company had nearly doubled in size under Anthony’s leadership, and by many indications, the future appeared to be as bright as the showroom shine of his new car.
But that bright, shiny future never came, seeming to get farther out of reach, month after month. Something was wrong. Business went from great to just okay. Sales turned lukewarm.
The people Anthony added to the payroll started hunting for things to do to appear busy.
The company’s last three quarters showed a southerly trend.
Anthony called an emergency executive meeting to seek the opinions of others to determine what could be causing the shift in tides.
Did a new competitor enter the market? Did a competing company’s new game-changing offering seem more appealing? Did something damage the company’s reputation?
Hey, where’s marketing?
Or…when the good times were rolling, did the company take a little break from the hard work that paid off so well, allowing a status quo to take deep root within the culture of the organization? Maybe just enough of a break to make it easier for a competitor to catch up, exploit the company’s weaknesses and appear a little more attractive to its current and prospective customers?
Let’s assume you’ve been retained as this company’s turnaround CEO. What would be your winning move to reverse the company’s unsettling trend? Accept the situation and hope things improve? Give a state-of-the-company pep talk to re-motivate and re-engage your people? Make some internal changes and improvements (e.g., spend more on marketing, expand sales incentives, build more brand visibility through networking, etc.)?
Or do you get to work on building your comeback brand?
What would be more exciting to you? What would be more exciting for your team? What would be more exciting for your customers?
Deep down, you know the answer.
And no, I’m not necessarily talking about changing the name of the company, although that may be a consideration.
Building a comeback brand
Building a comeback brand will require you and your team to start at the ground level, starting with the question: “If I were to build a company that would put mine out of business, how would I do it?”
This question will naturally place you in the mindset needed to build the strongest possible comeback brand for your company. It will drive you to examine every component of your business from the ground up, starting with your business plan.
You will begin to tediously question everything within your plan. Along the way, you will make needed modifications based on the benefits of your 20/20 hindsight. You will look at yourself like you would a competitor – searching for your weaknesses and how you can exploit them as you formulate your comeback brand.
How will you outperform yourself in all those critical metrics, such as sales, market share, mind share, innovation, etc.? What changes will you need to make? How will you redefine and build your company culture? What values will you need to adopt? What’s your new strategy?
Most importantly, what will be your company’s new mindset?
You’ll ask yourself if the people who helped you get to where your company is today are the same people who will help you get to your next destination in terms of sales, market share, and mind share. I’ll never forget hearing from a business owner who revealed that some of the friends and family he leaned on to help him start his business were not the same people who would help him leap into a leadership position in his industry. He said one of the most painful things he had to do was to let some of them go. Likewise, you’ll need to determine if you have the people and culture you need to build and launch your comeback brand.
And let’s not underestimate marketing opportunities. People love comebacks, whether it is an athlete, an actor, or yes, a brand.
Ask yourself, is it time to pump new life into your brand?
