2017 won’t be fixed on its own

Economy and markets in general give signs of improvement, but the new year will require management flexibility and creativity from the CEO or country manager.

by Marcelo Rezende

These are the last days of 2016, a reason of joy for most people I know. This was a really chaotic year, but the turn of the year won’t bring a different scenario if our actions continue the same.

Since achieving economic stability, in the 1990s, Brazil had never lived through two consecutive years in crisis. Expecting a really bad 2015, economically speaking, thanks to the reelection of Dilma Rousseff to the Presidency of the Republic and the aftermath of the World Cup, I figured the best thing to do was to dedicate myself to a one-year sabbatical professional development in the United States. The plan was to return in 2016, when the country would be getting back on its feet, to help it grow. I fulfilled my part of the deal, but Brazil didn’t. The crisis would last for unlikely two years.

I came back to restart in the corporate market, as country manager of a multinational, but the scenario proved itself to be more and more deteriorated. Those events were far from what I had planned. It was up to me then to readjust strategies and actions to the new environment. Today, I can see the fruits of this change of route. It wasn’t easy – it was necessary.

This is why the turn of the year won’t, alone, solve all issues. We changed the command of the country, the fight against corruption is finally giving signs of result, despite a few stumbles on the way, and economy gets back on its feet. But it’s important to manage companies considering our current scenario, not what it was like three, four years ago. It’s not because we see signs of recovery that this game is won.

Strategies must be revised, if they haven’t been yet. It takes creativity to find new markets or improve sales margins. A few questions should be asked: “how much opportunity is being explored in a certain industry of such region? What are the smaller markets that could not be seized today but could yield revenue sources?”.

Sending a salesman to Mato Grosso so he can work with medium-sized agribusiness companies, for example, could generate a very important long tail effect in terms of revenue for the company. Exploring only long-known markets – São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Curitiba – with a local office, using the expensive conventional model, tends not to be the most profitable way out. The combined sales of submarkets can no longer be ignored.

However, it’s impossible to have headcount everywhere, so the corporate market will have to reinvent itself with re-sales, partnerships and commercial representation. And the classic format of indirect sales needs changes too. Traditional processes, with investment of thousands dollars in training, execution of confidentiality terms and face-to-face meetings also don’t fit the reality we must face in the next months. Courses and online meetings, besides regional partnerships with smaller-sized re-sales or even independent professionals tend to be a less expensive and more profitable way out for those markets in which you’re still not present.

Above all, these changes will require from the manager ability to reinvent, to adjust strategies to signs of necessity without, however, losing the strength required for businesses to keep on track.

It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible. Those who are flexible will welcome 2018 with a lot more tranquility than in early 2017.