If there is one area that I know, it is marketing!  The advice I am offering is classic advice that is rarely understood.  You know that the stock market tells you to "Buy Low and Sell High."  Well, the best bargains are found when everyone else is getting out in a downturn!  It is difficult to be contrary to a trend, but millions upon millions are made when the weak scatter and the strong gather.  The same is true for real estate.  Believe it or not, this down trend in real estate is a buyer's dream come true.  Homes are selling for 10%, 20%, 30%, and even 50% of their previous value.  The biggest mistake was buying when homes were hot.  The smart people are buying homes today that will resurge in the near future.

Here's the dirty little secret.  We are in a recession or economic slow down.  It will hit its depth as the real estate market faces its toughest foreclosure rates in 2008.  It is scheduled to recover in 2009.  If this is true, there are serious questions about what to do while the market is soft?  I have a few great suggestions:

TRANSITION NOW:  Yes, things are slower now, but it will be crazy later.  If you have anything to change in your business, do it now!  Dump bad employees, and train the good ones to deliver great services.  Refine your business as a sharp business now conserving every account you have. 

BUILD LOYALTY:  Do everything you can to make friends of your account holders.  Pick up the phone and talk to your clients. Stop by and find out how things are going.  Do something special to impress your clients like tossing in a bathroom strip and wax.  You need to know how important having a person "inside the company" is to keeping that account.

GO GREEN WITH A PASSION:  We know that the "Green Janitorial" is big and getting bigger.  This is the best time of all to get your Green Clean Institute firm certification.  As regulations increase, you are going to need a Green certification or miss out on the business.  This is a literal "No Brainer."

FIND A NICHE MARKET:  You cannot afford to market to the whole world, but it is much easier to identify a segment of the market that you are well-prepared to handle.  Every market has niches.  Offices are a common niche.  What about shipping companies, manufacturing, or any industry that others might ignore?  Find a segment that is profitable, and focus your marketing on that group.

OFFER REWARDS FOR REFERRALS:  I like to offer a meal for two people at a great restaurant for a good referral.  In the follow up visits, you just ask, "Bob, you certainly know someone else that I could talk to about janitorial service.  I'll send you and your wife to a fancy restaurant if you can give me a couple of names of people that might use my service.  If they hire me, I'll make sure you get a great evening out of it."

DO NOT TAKE BREAK-EVEN JOBS TO STAY BUSY:  Break even jobs are never break even.  They are money losers.  If you are trying to keep your staff employed, just lay off the ones that don't work well and consider it a chance to find better people later.

The bottom line is that it is crucial that you do not take recessions as long-term and negative.  It is a time to strengthen your base and position yourself for the surge that will come next.  Bad times do not last forever, and this recession is frankly a shallow one if the politicians do not try to tax use into prosperity.  I suggest that you prepare for the good days that are coming, and if your company is not Green Clean Institute certified yet ... it is time to do it now because it is necessary tomorrow!  Read more about this at Green Clean Compliant.