The right trades to make now — Kelford Labs Daily

One of the things getting said a lot up here in Canada is, “Nobody wants to make a decision before the election.”

Or, “We’re holding off on that until we see what the tariffs will do.”

There’s a tendency, an urge, to avoid doing anything so long as circumstances remain uncertain.

And if your typical clients or customers are in that group of people with that tendency, you’re probably a little nervous right now.

Maybe the marketing that used to work no longer is. Or the clients you could always depend on are drying up.

And the instinct might be to wait it out, or to make compromises on your prices, your offering, or your values to make do for now.

But there’s a story that comes to mind whenever things get tough because of some external event or circumstance:

A general during a long campaign was once confronted by a soldier bemoaning the situation. The rain was unrelenting and the forces couldn’t move in the mud. Surely, all was lost.

But, instead of complaining, the general calmly replied, “Young man, don’t you know that the enemy is stuck in the mud, too?”

It’s not about taking solace in the suffering of others, it’s about taking stock of the actual situation.

It‘s a reminder that what’s happening in the wider world isn’t happening only to us, it’s just happening.

And we can choose to look for, and look out for, the people who need us now more than ever. The clients who can’t wait to make a decision because it must be made now. The customers who need to move despite the mud.

The friends, the peers, the people in our community who we can help and be helped by.

We can pretend that everything’s cool and normal and good even as our marketing falters and flails. We can act as if everyone is calm and collected even as they avoid making decisions and pull back their budgets.

Or we can recognize that our problems are not unique, they are diverse and dispersed and diffused into everything.

And we can think deeply about the value we offer our very best clients and customers and ask, “Who needs that now more than ever?”

“Who’s looking for it?”

“Who can’t wait to get it?”

We don’t have to compromise our value or our values, but we may have to make specific, strategic trades in what we do and who we do it for. We might have to prioritize another market or focus on fewer offerings.

But as long as you know what you do best, and who needs that most, you have the opportunity to identify the people who need that now more than ever.

And who can’t wait to get it.

And can’t wait to get it from you.

Kelford Inc. shows experts the way to always knowing what to say.