Is Your Business Full of Starving, Hungry or Fat Cats?

We’ve all seen a cat hunting.  They are so intent on their goal that they concentrate only on their prey.

I want you to imagine two cats, both hunting the same mouse.  One is a wild cat, scrawny, hungry and merciless in his search for food.   He knows he needs that meal to make it through another day, and he is not going to let it out of his sight.  He likes to eat “mouse”, in fact it is one of his favourite meals, being much better than the crusty 4-day-old sandwich  at the bottom of the rubbish bin, so it is the only thing he can focus on.

The other cat is a plump, well-fed and loved house cat that has just finished a big liver and kidney dinner.  He’s comfortable, content and confident that there will be another meal in his bowl tonight.  For him, the mouse is just entertainment.

Which cat works hardest to catch the mouse?  Which one displays the wholehearted concentration required to hunt, corner and consume his prey?

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Well, surprise, surprise, it is no different in marketing and business development.  In the economic environment we are in in Queensland and throughout Australia, there are many starved cats hunting hard for a meal in property and construction, government services, architecture, engineering and financial services.   There is also a handful of hungry cats, who are not starving, but rather, looking carefully for the most “choice” meal available.  And inevitably, but less commonly there are the fat cats feeding off secure clients.

In fact, there are three different types of businesses that I see regularly at the moment in the professional services industry:

1. Starving Businesses who need help to survive in this market, and aren’t sure of the best way to hunt, or even where to hunt because the mice have left their building and they don’t have a clear strategy to find new mice.  Some of these businesses are not sure that they want to change their business to find new mice, but frankly, most need to.   (If you think you are one of these, I recommend reading or re-reading “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson as soon as possible).
2. Hungry Businesses that are thriving on success, aggressively hunting their target market (mice) and wanting to be more and more proactive about it.  These businesses are not starving, but they sure are hungry for growth, and they are chasing it mercilessly, looking for new ways to find and secure business, challenging the way they care for and communicate with their clients, developing new IP and looking for different ways to deliver their services in a changing technology environment. These firms are a very attractive service provider to their target markets, because their own success and quality of service makes them attractive.   (If you think you are one of these, I recommend reading “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose”, by Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO)
3. Plump, Comfortable Businesses with a clear growth trajectory, locked-in, high growth clients who need their services to grow their own businesses, a strong staff-base and resilient succession plan.  An urban myth perhaps?  Yes, they do exist, but it is surprisingly easy to slip from plump and comfortable to starving through complacency and the neglect of client relationships.  (If you are one of these… tell us your favourite read in our comments fields below).

Which type of company are you working in?  And as a Staff Member, Manager or Director are you personally behaving like a Hungry Cat, a Starved Cat, or a Plump and Happy Cat within your firm?  Click here to go directly to our blog and leave us your comments.

So, whilst it is downright miserable out there for many outside the mining sector it is not all starvation and misery.  It is important to remember that you don’t need a license to hunt in this market for the clients who have continued activity and business that you really want, you just need to know what they look like and how to reach them, then get on with doing it.

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Our next blog will give you a range of tips on how you can hunt more proactively by bringing your marketing and business development activities together in deliberate support of each other.  Sign up for it here, if you aren’t already a subscriber.

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