We had our worst year in our 23-year history in 2009. We were down 18%. It may surprise you, but we felt pretty good about that. It seems we outperformed most of our peers and we’ve prepared ourselves to blossom when the economic spring arrives.
Our organizational planning process allowed us to survive the long economic winter reasonably well – we both made a little money and used the downturn and our recruiting strategy to add two very talented people to our team (Dana Harrison and BJ McKay). Going into this year, our strategic planning approach was to work hard and hope for a flat year – likely, plus or minus 7%. That was where we assumed the last of the winter would leave us. If the winter ever left us.
Maybe the season is starting to change. Last month, we performed very well on, what is for us, a key balanced scorecard metric – Net New Business (NNB). Obviously not a GAAP approved measure. NNB is simply the difference between the revenue we add and what is cancelled in our 90-day forecast. In February, our number came close to the levels of the hot times prior to the deep economic cold spell that has engulfed most businesses recently. We hadn’t seen that for a while. And March is tracking similarly.
In watching our clients, we see some businesses that are continuing to struggle on what is, for them, a frozen landscape. But, we also see businesses that are starting to bud – to push optimistically toward the sun. They’re recognizing that it’s time to invest in those things that we can bring to them: implementing organizational planning programs, improving their sales performance and instituting HR best practices. Overall, they're wanting what we deliver: the organizational confidence that yields sustainable results.
Like the daffodil buds bursting from the ground outside my office window, I think the economic spring may be here. It’s been a long, cold winter; I’m ready to once again see and smell the flowers. I’m excited.
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