2020 Vision: How’s Business?
With the champagne a distant memory and most U.S. workforces back at it, we can now get back to the business of business – and try to get a sense for what the new year and decade have in store for us.
Fortunately, U.S. business owners seem to be shaking off threats of overseas discord, new tariffs, and political tumult, and remain bullish on their chance to grow their sales as we head into 2020.
A survey of SMB and mid-market CEOs conducted by Vistage found that confidence skyrocketed in the final quarter of 2019, helping to boost optimism levels to a level of satisfaction not seen since the start of 2019.
The gauge, known as the Vistage CEO Confidence Index, provides a useful indicator for business leaders who are hoping to understand how national and global trends shape the selling marketplace. More than 1,600 executives responded to the Dec. 2019 query, and the results portend optimism for the coming months.
Some highlights of the Vistage survey:
- The economy is strengthening. CEOs believe that sales are gaining steam, and they now have fourth quarter numbers to prove it. Though more than a quarter of CEOs reported sales gains in the last quarter, it lags the relatively robust 44 percent of those who affirmed sales growth in the final quarter of 2018. Recent positive news on tariffs seems to be fueling cause for optimism.
- Revenue growth will follow. About two-thirds of CEOs expect revenues to grow in 2020 (contrasted with just 8 percent predicting declines), though much of that may come from price increases that are being visioned to offset increased costs in doing business. Notwithstanding, only 12 percent of CEOs expect profits to decline as a result.
- Staffing levels show gains. People Ops will be busy in early 2020 at most companies surveyed – 63 percent of companies expect to expand their workforces in the new year. This will cause firms to boost their spending on training and skill enhancement programs to help ensure their new headcount is productive and skilled in fueling corporate growth.
- More tech spending. Just under half of CEOs will continue to double-down on spending on new technologies that are necessary to fortify their competitive position in the marketplace. This extends a recent upward trend on technology spending, tied to customer retention, streamlining of operations, and greater productivity overall.
Are you positioned and ready to reap the rewards of growing consumer optimism, and a growing economy, in 2020? For over 40 years The Brooks Group has partnered with sales organizations around the globe—helping them to hire, train, coach, and develop salespeople and sales managers to reach maximum performance levels.