In this article from the Seattle PI, Leaders shouldn’t be silent in tough times.

1. Wise leaders understand that emotions are contagious.
2. Discuss relevant matters openly and appropriately.
3. Keep your people connected – Face-to-Face not all electronic.
4. Reduce physical and electronic clutter.
5. Offer skill development, coaching support and training for your people.

Overall, just manage by walking around and connecting with your employees. Be authentic and transparent if you can.

On LinkedIn Answers today, there was a discussion about whether ROI discussions matter in sales in this economic situation. This was a good answer from Thomas Biggs.

As a former CFO of a billion dollar organization a positive ROI was necessary to get my support. To get my support a project had to have the following criteria:

1. Within the scope of our existing priorities;
2. A solid business plan;
3. A plan for a annual retroactive review to assure that the project is meeting the objectives.
4. A champion that I could hold accountable for the project.
5. A well vetted, risk adjusted ROI, that was based on reasonable and supportable assumptions.

In times like this, it is even more important to do thorough ROIs on all projects. By thorough, I mean the inclusion of a risk factor and well vetted facts and assumptions. With funds being limited, it is important that they be spent on those projects which provide the best return. [Editor: And advance overall goals and values of the organization].

As it relates to CapEx or OpEx, the decision to use either should be part of the ROI. If the project has a very positive ROI and the company has the funding to support the project, than the project should move forward.

Making decisions based on sound business practices is the key to long term success. An ROI analysis is a very sound business practice. As a result I was always willing to support projects that met the above criteria.

Another answer came from Chip Nickolett:

Not only are organizations being forced to do more with less, timelines for projects have been shortened to have a more immediate and measurable business impact. Expenditures that don’t make an immediate impact (i.e., within 12 months) will be tough to get approved, unless it is essential and in-line with the strategic plan for that business. ROI and TCO are more important than ever in this economy since they focus on both CapEx and OpEx, and have a direct impact on profitability.

[Editor: That's sound business advice].

Jay Conrad Levinson wrote the Guerrilla Marketing Handbook with Seth Godin in 1994. Things have changed a lot since then. Hyper-competition for one thing. The ubiquity of the Internet for another. Entrepreneur magazine says that it takes 5 minutes to create a top-notch marketing plan. I disagree because it takes about 45 minutes to clarify your Positioning statement (your USP, your differentiation). I did a presentation on this a couple of years ago. Here it is:

In the same issue of Entrepreneur, 198 items for your guerrilla marketing arsenal [here].