Oh, I know, everyone hates a Polyanna. Go ahead and say it, get it off your chest. Then, step out of that for just a moment, and read. Burn some calories.

A Comparison

Are we on the Bismarck, economically? Like the Bismarck, in the past, America has been considered the "largest warship," in economic terms, with many countries wanting to be like us! Not so, now.

As the Royal Navy, by Winston Churchill's command "Sink the Bismarck!" heavily pursued the battleship, to make Germany pay for their sinking of the Royal Navy's pride and joy, the flagship HMS Hood, they caught their adversary. The Fleet Air Arm aircraft torpedoed Bismarck and jammed the rudder, which allowed the heavy British units to catch up to her. On May 27, 1941, a fierce battle took place, and 3 hours later, it was the end of the Bismarck. "Sink the Bismarck!" had become the battle cry of the determined British. The British took on a huge challenge, ignoring odds, they were driven to accomplish the goal. Defeat was not an option.

Over the past decade, have we become the pursuers of our own Bismarck? Many would describe our economy as sinking; we are drowning in our own greed.

Gaining During A Time of Loss

Defeat is in the air, a heavy presence in our lives. What do we do? Accept it and crash? NO! All is not lost! When you are in your own pursuit, you can decide to quit chasing your tail. Stop! Change direction! I hope we will, this November 4th, 2008.

In the meantime, I have an announcement! Light can brighten in a dim tunnel. Not only have I found the secret to weight loss, revealed here at this moment to you today, I have also discovered a floating raft as I was about to pass out from treading water.

Attitude Gives Altitude

I have discovered, that by putting one foot in front of another, not listening to defeatists who are screaming "can't" at every step, one can find a measure of financial success in the lobby of a broken bank.

The Task

Running two "Pentagons" of storage sites, I had no choice but to keep looking for customers where we heard there were none. A new site opened 1/2 mile away from us, furthering diluting an already watered down market. With no room for a newcomer, we had one anyway. We learned about them, met them, smiled sweetly at them while at the same time, ignoring them. Making a huge effort to stay positive, we only talked about ways to be successful. "Can't" was tossed out as an alternative. We decided to do our job, as if there were no competition, as if the economy was healthy, at least in our attitudes. Keep it simple, just do it.

Oh, we heard the negatives, were even ostercised by some of our peers. "It won't work, there's nothing we can do, the economy is down, no one wants me (the business), you might as well face it, why are you working so hard, you're killing yourself for nothing, stop it, do what you can and forget it," yada-yada-yada; gloom and doom was everywhere.

My farmer uncle, made out of pure grit, would have called our persistence "Plowing straight ahead!"

The Strategy

That pioneer spirit, that "kick aside obstacles," "climb the mountains" intestinal fortitude is what settled the west and built America. I believe it still exists, today. Predicting outcomes is essential to both corporate and personal lives. As managers of our own little Pentagon, responsible for 2 multi-million dollar facilities teetering on the edge of a disastrous economy, we not only survived, something distinctly resembling a miracle, happened. "Thinking forward," we lowered prices some months back. Since it takes awhile to get responses from changes, by the time the economy "tanked" our message was already spread around the area. Those who needed storage could find "great spaces-happy faces" right down the street, with us. The price was right, and with customer service at a high standard, we gave them no reason to go anywhere else.

Building Relationships

Next, we spent many hours building relationships with existing customers, offering a referral incentive that would come to them in the form of gas cards, shopping cards, or dining out cards. Spend a little, get a little, or a lot. Referrals have become a flood. We considered everyone we met a potential customer. When we did our regular shopping, eating out, going to garage sales, people were given our referral cards. If they didn't need storage, maybe they knew someone who did, and we would pay them to send them to us.

Seeking Customers Actively

We did not wait in the office for the customers to walk in, and we preached that attitude to all of our staff. "Want to keep your job? Our paychecks come from the revenue we generate. Everyone is involved in the site's success. Talk to customers, greet them, thank them for coming to the site today, offer them refreshments, don't be lackadaisical." We said it and we said it often.

Church charity oganizations, and other non-profits received visits and phone calls from us. "How can we help you?" Providing free storage to those agencies, helping them spread the word about their needs, even holding functions at our facility, gave us not only an interactive relationship in the community, but the free publicity that goes along with it. Helping others, helped us. Nothing wrong with that.

To further our chances of increasing our occupancy and revenue numbers, we developed the first cousin work ethic to "24/7." Keeping Saturdays and Sundays for our own personal rest and relaxation did not mean we couldn't spread the word about our prices and quality service as we were out and about.

Let's Make A Deal

Next, we empowered our assistants to offer the same specials and "make a deal" strategy as we utilized during the week. "Whatever it takes" became our "Sink the Bismarck" battle cry!

For our existing customers, we offered a discount if they were experiencing hard times, and even gave a sprinkling of free months. It's better to lose a little revenue today, than all your revenue tomorrow.

Think About Tomorrow

We're not done. Everyday brings an opportunity to discover a way to increase or maintain business. What have we discovered? 1) It is possible to increase your numbers at work in a dismal economy. 2) We can have a positive attitude if we carve it out. 3) Maintaining current levels, is NOT LOSING; IT IS riding the wave, thus living to fight again tomorrow. 4) Achievement can be re-defined, and is up to the individual, in spite of the circumstances. 5) We have opportunity, and we have choices. 6) We can LOSE WEIGHT in the process.

Finally Weight Loss

Talk about trimming the fat! I won't say that all of the above allowed us to be worry-free. I lost sleep; some of my comfort zone; my appetite; even weight. I also lost any form of bad attitude. There just wasn't time, have you noticed how much energy it takes to be upset and depressed? I don't have time for it; something wonderful happens when you begin to concentrate on finding solutions. It's empowering, and real natural high. Being actively engaged changes your whole perspective. It's a "new attitude!"

Using Stress

Running two Pentagons, for me, is scarey. Two sites, multiple problems, tons of pressure. Some side effects have been good. I've discovered that when you work a lot, eat less but better, walk a lot, weight loss takes care of itself, with very little added effort. My munchies have been healthy: yogurt, fruit, vegetables. My drinking of water increased due to less time for soft drink purchases (which I hardly drink anyway), my meal time has consisted of soups and light sandwiches, with less time to cook. With more required, my metabilism has been forced to burn, baby, burn.

The Result

Life has now become a little crazy, stress is at an all time high, pressure for numbers to be up in a down market is deep. By developing strategies based around "can do" attitudes, in September, the month of the Economic Meltdown and resulting Bail Out attempts, our numbers hit an all time high at "first site," becoming the highest occupancy ever, for over 25 years. The revenue is still $5,000 more than last year. Insurance sales increased by 42%, retail sales increased by 35%.

At 2nd site, with 3.5 weeks of management, we hit a high occupancy of 81%, regaining the numbers from 2 years ago. Revenue is holding steady, delinquencies are low.

Where's the Beef?

I'm not bragging, that's not the point. I'm sharing what works. I'm not Palin, but I'm not a rocket scientist either. I am solution-oriented. I want to keep my paycheck. I don't like depression. Want to lose weight? Want to be successful in your business? Work smart, work long, and the fat will be trimmed, in more ways than one. I don't want to take too much credit here, it could all go to heck and a hand basket tomorrow, but not due to our lack of effort.

Better days are ahead, one step at a time.

You'll have to 'scuse me, I have to leave now, my burger has arrived. I've got my appetite back, oops.