Today, we’re expected to do so much more with less and although technology allows for greater speed and efficiency, there’s nothing like the motivation you get when you have to deliver for your teammates.

Truly interdependent teams take advantage of the strengths, while downplaying the weaknesses, of its members. And, when there is trust among members, asking for help or feedback is never perceived as weakness. Trust allows team members to stay focused on results.

A lot has been said about teamwork. My favorite thought leader on teams and teamwork to date, however, is Patrick Lencioni. His book and subsequent workshop called The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team provide a clear model and attainable set of principles that can work at any level of your organization.

Developing real teams and teamwork is tough and takes a significant ongoing investment of time.  However, the pay off in company results, individual effectiveness, and employee satisfaction is well worth it.

 Doubt and insecurity reduce the effectiveness of your staff at the exact moment you need them to be at their most productive. If not managed well, this can turn into a spiraling vortex of badness that ends up exacerbating the exact thing a RIF was supposed to prevent.

 In my humble opinion, there is no use trying to spin a lay off. It’s a bad thing. It should be treated with the respect it deserves and trying to twist it into something it’s not is, frankly, disingenuous. However, showing your employees exactly what they can do to keep the company moving forward can be powerfully engaging but it requires information.

 The key to managing this change can be summed up in one word: Access. The last thing leaders should do in situations like this is keep the secret sauce to themselves.

 The employees who are still with you will, certainly, feel grateful for still having a job, but, more importantly, will want to know exactly what they need to do to make sure the company meets its short-term and mid-range goals.

 Give your employees a number to strive for – X amount in dollars in revenue everyday, Y amount of widgets produced each week. In whatever way you measure the success of your company, be sure your employees know what they need to do to hit those goals. And then do one more very important thing. Open the books.

 Opening the books is an incredibly powerful engagement technique. Let your people know how things are going – daily. Good or bad. It will instill ownership, buy-in, and leadership among your employees so the effects of a RIF are quickly mitigated and you get the best out of your people when you need them the most.

In my research for upcoming sales training a quote jumped out at me, “In today’s economy, it’s getting harder to find new clients, but it’s easier than ever to lose the ones you’ve got.” While not necessarily a revelation, I thought it drove home a really great point … establishing solid business relationships and, more importantly, constantly cultivating them, is the key ongoing success. 

I’m not a sales professional. I’ve never aspired to be one. In fact the quote that always comes to mind for me when thinking about sales is from Say Anything. When asked what he wants to do with his life, John Cusack’s character says (paraphrasing) “I know what I don’t want to do, sir. I don’t want to buy anything, sell anything, or process anything. I don’t want to buy anything sold or processed, sell anything processed or bought or process anything bought or sold.” 

While sales has a mixed-bag reputation full of used cars, vacuums, and pressure, the fact of the matter is that the exchange of goods and services for money is what keeps our economy running and sales professionals are a big part of that engine. 

A sales professional, though often measured, in part, by closings knows that the key to success is long-term, repeat business. 21^st Century sales professionals know that the way to get that business is through establishing and maintaining business relationships. Developing a partnering relationship with your clients where the focus becomes each other’s mutual success takes your customer off the market and ensures that you’re selling your products and services at your price.

In my mind, especially when the economy is heading south, ensuring your customers have the best possible experience is a key survival tactic. Everybody is cutting back and the one way you can make sure your customers don’t jump ship is to provide a remarkable interaction that keeps you top of mind. More than the great goods and services you provide, it is the way the customer perceives her experience with you that will determine if she keeps coming back or not. And, once again, it comes back to very basic themes that we grew up with: fairness, honesty, trust, and integrity to name a few. Without these you can leave an interaction with a sour taste in your mouth.

Those themes cannot be developed without creating and maintaining a relationship with your customers. Even if you’re work is highly transactional, there are things that you can do to make it less so. Learning names, engaging your customers in conversation, and sincerely thanking them for their business are the no-brainers. There are tons of other ideas that can be used to guarantee a remarkable customer interaction and keep your customers coming back for more of what you have to offer.

No matter what segment of the business world you’re in, everybody is cutting back or renegotiating to save money. As John DiJulius and others have said, make price irrelevant by providing the kind of service that makes your customer think of no one else. In tough times, an investment in providing remarkable customer interactions is sound and may be a key factor to your survival.