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I had just about finished my article for the week when I tuned in CNBC to see what was happening on Wall Street.  I can’t believe that the stock market could drop by 777 points. But then again I can’t believe Congress could leave the American public hanging so that some congressmen could make some political statement.

Let’s get a few things straight: is business in this country that bad? NO! Is MacDonald’s business going off tomorrow? NO! Are you not going to the supermarket? NO! If your daughter is planning a wedding , will the mother of the bride wear a dress she has in her closet? NO WAY! Will some retailers go out of business? YES! Will there be some retailers that will reach new sales highs? YES!

So what do we, as retailers, do?  Here are some rules to live by:

1.  There will always be someone doing business. Make sure it’s you.
2.  Understand the “cheap high concept”.  When there is an abundance of bad news, we need the pick-me-upper. We need the “cheap high” to make us feel better.
3. Having your promotable item and bundling are more important than ever before.
4. The world isn’t coming to an end. If we just listen to negative news and we act accordingly, we will go out of business.
5. Make sure everyone who works for you is in sales. Strong sales oriented retailers always weather the storm  well.
6. If you have slow sellers, call your vendors for help.  Vendors want to be our partners. Now is a good time to prove it.
7. Focus on Units per Transaction for every employee you have. Times like these,  where we are reducing  prices, less than 2 items per transaction is not acceptable.
8. Understand bad economic conditions  don’t  put retailers out of business, retailers put themselves  out of business.
9. Now is the time to review all of your orders  and make sure they are appropriate to the level of business  you are now doing.
10. Remember to always sell the WANTS over Needs.
11. This is the time to reevaluate everything you do and the way you do it. It’s time to look for ways we can streamline our efficiency.
12. The key to great advertising is NOT size of the ad, TV, Radio or even direct mail. The key to great advertising in times like these is the simple friendly reminder which can be a note, an email, or a simple phone call.
13. Don’t focus on sales results . Now is the time to look at profits.

This will all come to pass. We will all look back and think “what I could have bought Google or Microsoft for”.  Let’s get stronger and we will be able to overcome anything.