CFO’s don’t think 2009 will be the year of recovery – “83 percent predicting we won’t see relief until the first half of 2010 or later,” according to the TechJournalSouth.

Options CFO’s  are considering or using to avoid layoffs include:

1. Redistribution of responsibilities;
2. elimination of bonuses;
3. restructuring;
4. reduced payroll and
5. options to telecommute.”

Reduced payroll can include: shortened work weeks; no overtime; mandatory time off; pay cuts. Although employees get disgruntled with these measures, a frank discussion with employees should help everyone understand that it is far better to take a little less now than to be unemployed altogether.

In reports I am seeing, companies are refraining from touching health benefits but are suspending 401K matches and other monetary benefits.

And here are twenty more from TechRepublic’s article “Layoff: A Four-Letter Word in Any Economy,” by Steven Martin, president of Profit Professionals of Business Solutions – The Positive Way.

Next week, Jack Brandt of Register.com and I are back at ISPCON to do another session on Marketing. For those that read this blog, here’s a thank you gift – the presentation early.

As many of you know, I don’t use PowerPoint during my sessions, but these are the ideas I will be trying to convey about Marketing, Messaging, and Guerrilla tactics.

From their website, this is a unique twist on outsourcing tele-marketing / cold calling:

ConnectAndSell delivers sales prospects to you live so that your sales reps can focus on selling. We accelerate the process of connecting to new prospects or existing prospects that your team is working to close.

We do this through a combination of patented switching technology and virtual sales agents so that when we connect to a prospect, the prospect believes that your sales rep has made the call. We never speak to your prospects directly.

This enables your sales reps to spend all of their productive time presenting your product or service.

We guarantee 5 live connects (i.e. conversations with named individuals you have targeted) to each of your sales reps per hour and typically average 7-10. If we don’t deliver 5 live connects per hour, you pay nothing.”

Got to like that! Especially if you can narrow down the prospect and have specific qualifications besides breathing and willing to pay.