The hangover from the recession is, unfortunately, still with us. Just like the Great Depression, the Great Recession has left a lot of people with deep psychological scarring. Let’s call it “Post Traumatic Recessionary Stress Disorder.”
After the Great Depression, people changed their habits. They were much more frugal. They were always concerned that the next Great Depression was lurking right around the corner. My grandmother used to say, “You didn’t live through the Depression,” and “Roosevelt saved this country,” (causing my libertarian sensibilities chafe, but that’s another story). That’s what people are going to say about this recession, too.
What’s Old Is What’s Needed
A lot of your buyers are still reeling from the Great Recession, even five years on. They are still afraid to take risks, and many still believe that we are in the middle of a recession, even though, with the exception of 2009, the economy has grown every year. In 2008, the economy was 14.7 trillion dollars. Now it’s 16.2 trillion dollars, and many companies have better balance sheets and more profits than they did before the recession. But they’re still afraid to buy.
- If you want to help your dream client move forward, you need to work on building trust. They need to know that you are going to be there for them. Caring is what trust is built on.
- If you want to help your dream clients make the right investments now, you have to provide them with evidence that you are going to produce results, that you are going to be accountable.
- You have to help your prospective clients overcome their fear and move forward. This requires presence, patience, and the reassurance that they are going to get the benefit of their bargain.
What’s needed now is the old stuff, like caring, trust, good counsel, accountability, and a partner-minded approach. That’s what has always driven out fear—and with it Post Traumatic Recessionary Stress Disorder.