Back to the Basics

Well..... now that Tiger crumbled over the weekend, it is back to the grindstone.

The past few months have been nothing short of phenomonal. The economic challenges within the banking industry have resulted in a period of time that will be well remembered for years to come. Much like the dot com era or 9/11, this period will be one in which we will reflect on.

Thankfully - things seem to be on the upward trend, but who knows. However, as I reflect on the past few months and quarters, I have realized some very important lessons with respect to business.

1.) Be wary of the teflon mentality. When this crisis first emerged, the initial reaction was "it hasn't really effected us". A few short weeks and months later - we realized it had - in ways that we hadn't imagined.

2.) Don't get diverted. When a core market segment is impacted, the natural inclination is to see if you shouldn't be pointing your guns elsewhere. I am glad we did not, as sales activity is beginning to return to levels of past.

3.) Have faith. It's difficult to remain focused when you think you have the right message, yet things get more difficult. Does the message need to change? What am I missing? What we found was that the message was right and by focusing on it made all the difference.

4.) Maximize your resources. More than ever, the latest environment forced us to understand to a greater degree what resources were absolutely critical to success and those that were not. By removing un-needed expense and resource, we were able to streamline our operations while minimize our expense.

All in all, I will be happy if the climate over the past few months never returns. At the same time, it has been a great learning experience and we are coming out on the back-end of this more operationally sound than before. The next few months should be entertaining.

Good Hunting out there,

A.E>>>