When's the time to catch competitors off guard?
Published Thursday June 11th, 2009
Formula Atlanta executive dispenses advice on management and leadership
Kraig Kramers says the best time for companies to catch competitors off guard is during a downturn.
"Most businesses just drift through recessions on automatic cruise control," says the leading business executive from Atlanta, Ga. "So with the right tools and a bit of work you can easily outrun the competition and gain market share."
Kramers flew into Fredericton to share his wisdom Wednesday with local members of the Executive Committee Ltd. (TEC), an international organization that brings together small groups of top executives for monthly meetings.
The president and CEO of Corporate Partners Inc., a consulting firm in the southeastern United States, Kramers dispenses advice on management and leadership to boardrooms and ballrooms around the world.
The 66-year-old business veteran holds a physics degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Stanford University. He has been the CEO of eight companies and is the author of the book CEO Tools: The Nuts-n-Bolts of Business for Every Manager's Success.
Rather than offering a silver-bullet formula for success, Kramers lays out myriad money-making business tools for executives in any sector. He also highlights a seven-step path to success, which includes setting meaningful goals, building trust and communication among employees and planning and anticipating the future.
Sitting forward in an armchair after his three-hour presentation at the Crowne Plaza hotel, the seasoned businessman with round, metal-rimmed glasses and a graying moustache explains the secrets of his success.
"As a CEO you have to be ready to set big audacious goals and you have to be ready to fail," he says. "Most business people have a knee-jerk reaction to cut advertising and cut consulting expenses during a recession. But if those things work for you they are the exact two things you ought to be spending more on during a recession."
In 1991 Kramers became the CEO of Snapper, a struggling lawn mower and snow removal equipment company.
"That snapping turtle was wiggling upside down on his back with his legs in the air," Kramers says. "I needed to flip the turtle back over but the economy was sinking. But we set some far reaching goals and managed to reinvent the company."
After 45 days at the helm of the lawnmower company, Kramers had reversed Snapper's downward trend. A year later the company's net sales had increased $85 million to $250 million.
Although the recession has hit harder than in the early 1990s, Kramers says the fundamental ingredients to beating competitors during a downturn remain the same.
"We did 70 different things to turn Snapper around and outperform our competitors," he says. "We changed our advertising dramatically, we redesigned the product lines to look better, we gave our dealers new graphics for the showrooms and we created instant Snap credit so people could buy a lawnmower without any payment for 10 months."
Kramers says companies trying to develop an edge on the competition during recessionary times have to respond to changing market demands with innovative solutions.
"Many business people think they have to suffer during a recession," he says. "But companies should use the slowdown to take action so that when the economy rebounds they are stronger and ready to gain market share."
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