Well Adjusted? - One of the great dynamics of college football is the importance of half-time adjustments. Sure they happen in the NFL, but the impact is not as dramatic. In the college game, momentum shifts like an undeclared major. Coaches get 15 minutes - 20 in the bowl games - to evaluate what is going right and wrong, what they misevaluated on the way in about their opponent, and what can be done to address it all - keeping in mind the opposing coaches are doing the same thing. You gotta love it.

In the 2009 bowls, two nice examples were the Capital One Bowl and the Orange Bowl. In the Capital One, the Georgia Bulldogs shook off a lack-luster first half and made the changes necessary to shut down Michigan State's offense and at the same time get their own to offer a pulse. In the Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech watched Cincinnati drive down the field on their first possession of the game like VT was a Division III scout team. Adjustments were made and no more scoring for the Bearcats.

So, what about you? - Are you prepared to make adjustments? Let's face it, a lot is different today than it was a year ago. Heck, it's different from what it was just three months ago. Bailouts, layoffs, a new President, and on and on and on. Clearly good sales people are not just going to march forward, head down, and expect last year's strategies and tactics to yield the same results. But, acknowledging change is only the beginning. You have to assess, plan, seek counsel, test, validate, adjust, and then start the process over. This is NOT a beautiful bear market like the late 90's where even lousy sales people won deals. Start now! List issues, trends, competitors (with their strengths and weaknesses) and how your strengths and weaknesses fit into the mix. Then get creative - ADJUST!

Also, don't make the mistake of thinking you will make these adjustments on the fly. If you do not think through the issues now and assess your options, you will be left looking like a dime-store guppy (mouth agape and eyes bugging out) when they come up in a customer meeting.

Separating Yourself from the Pack: Many companies will take the same old steps in this market. Their adjustments will be defensive in nature and only superficially thought out (like laying off sales people - more on this below). Don't apply the same old strategies you used to address past market dynamics - things are different!

Let's go back to college football; look at the pre-season Top 25. The prognosticators seemed locked into the old dynamics and failed to adjust. Compared to the year-end poll, the "experts'" Pre-season Top 25 missed the mark by an average of 23 spots. That means take all the differences in where teams were picked to end up and where they actually were ranked at the end of the seeason, and the typical delta was TWENTY-THREE! In fact, 13 teams not even ranked at the beginning, wound up in the final Top 25. The point is, even the guys who know so much can get caught looking at things as though it was the same old same old (LSU, Tennessee, and Arizona State pre-season Top 25s) instead of looking at the way things have changed (Utah, Boise State, TCU, Cincinnati, and Georgia Tech ending up in the Top 25). If it is so hard for people who make a living examining change to take a fresh look around, how much harder is it for those of us who are heads down on deals? Be intentional and make some time to do your homework.

To help you get started, here are some trends that keep coming to the surface.

Do More with Less - Your customers are being told they will have to be able to deliver better business support, more revenue, and higher efficiency with fewer resources. Does this match your messaging?

Compliance - Thanks to AIG, Lehman, Bernie Madoff, a huge chunk of the mortgage industry, GM, Ford, Chrysler and others, all of Washington is so deeply entangled in finger-pointing, the only means of detangling will be MORE regulation. With more regulation comes more reporting and thus opportunities around compliance.

Change, the Trend - Notice the comma. Change is now a trend, not an event. We've known for some time that the pace of change is increasing, or the events are so close together we've removed the white space. Whatever... The point is that this idea of adjusting will be with us for the future. You need to be tuned into the changes your customers are facing/making and be prepared to help them deal with them.

Tight Credit - That means less cash for operating. The projects still need to get done, but where is the money supposed to come from? How about your company? Get with your finance department and see what terms can be extended to new customers. Maybe you just cover costs and pick up margin later. Does it hurt the books? A little, but you might pick up a slew of new customers that pay off in the long-run.

Analytics - Everyone is going to have to be laser focused and you will need to be prepared to support those efforts for your customers. If they are trying to figure out which markets are most fertile, profitable, etc., you must know how you contribute to that endeavor. It is part of their mandate to do more with less.

Services - As many companies trim headcount, they still face the long project lists demanded by their counterparts. Make sure you are clear how you can help get your solution implemented with the fewest FTEs and least headache on your customer's part. If you are a services company, there is value to you in keeping your people working so that you are prepared to take off when the market turns.