The Strategy Page: Uncertainty Edition

At a glance:

1. Flip the Script and Drive More Volume

2. Watch Market Signals Like a Hawk

3. Rework Your Funnel Top to Bottom

4. Turn Service Into a Growth Lever

5. Over-Communicate With Your Team

6. Lead Like a Human, Not Just a CEO

7. Recommended Podcast: The Game with Alex Hormozi

8. Book Recommendation: The Obstacle is the Way

One person we draw inspiration from is jazz great Wynton Marsalis. After his dad died of covid, he appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about the principles of improvisation. He said that in times of chaos, we need to be more deliberate. In other words, we earn the right to be agile through our preparation. Success is a function of action, not inaction.

With chaos comes opportunity. The smart money looks for market imbalances. For retail investors, that may be in the form of stock market corrections, but for management teams that comes in other forms.

So the real question is: What should you actually do right now as a business leader?

Flip the Script and Drive More Volume

As we outlined in the last Strategy Page, customer behavior changes in periods of uncertainty. People freeze. Decision-making is slow. People aren’t saying no—they’re saying “I don’t know.” Use this as an opportunity to convince customers that now is exactly the time to pull the trigger on that order hanging in limbo.

In almost any business, one could argue there is more certainty today than tomorrow. Not knowing your future costs creates more stress.

Encourage customers to take advantage of what we know today. Ask for the order.

Watch Market Signals Like a Hawk

Use ambiguity as a lever to dialog with customers.

What people do is changing faster than what they say. Be curious and ask questions. What’s selling now that wasn’t before? What’s not moving anymore that used to? Are your competitors shifting pricing, bundling, messaging? Is a particular customer segment becoming more or less responsive?

Set up a recurring review of trends and competitor moves. If you’re not doing this weekly, you’re behind. Use this intel to tweak offers, products, and positioning. Behind the scenes, we’re working on tools that provide our clients with real-time intel. 

Rework Your Funnel Top to Bottom

Customer journeys don’t look the same during a downturn. As we learned from The Jolt Effect, customer communication must be amplified and accelerated. Consideration takes longer and awareness is harder to earn. Your customers are making emotional decisions that are less impulsive.

Audit your funnel for leaks. Is your lead magnet still relevant? Is your nurture content empathetic to your buyers’ headspace? Are your sales emails too aggressive?

Your old playbook might be tone-deaf now, so rewrite it.

Turn Service Into a Growth Lever

Here’s your secret weapon: customer service that makes people say “damn.” Don’t just solve problems—anticipate them. Empower your team to make judgment calls that help customers, even if it bends a rule. Treat service moments as opportunities to move people up the funnel, not just keep them from leaving.

Just because your competition is slacking off doesn’t mean you have to.

Over-Communicate With Your Team

Micro-experiments win during chaotic periods. Test new offers. Try building content series based on customer FAQs, or bundle your offer in a new way.

Use uncertainty as permission to do things differently, but keep the risk manageable. The best ideas won’t come from brainstorms—they’ll come from action.

Lead Like a Human, Not Just a CEO

Most importantly, leaders need to show up differently during times of uncertainty. Again, it is your job to exude confidence. Your team isn’t expecting you to be a genius, but they are expecting you to be present, grounded, and real. Share what you’re wrestling with—this builds trust, not weakness.

In stormy seas, people don’t need a superhero. They need a steady captain who sees the iceberg and adjusts course quickly.

For many businesses and consumers, the impacts of tariffs will be severe. For others, just a blip on the radar. And Trump is likely to attempt some quick wins with countries such as Vietnam, which may be willing to renegotiate. He will then yield and claim victory. This is not a time to rip your business apart or get soft; it’s time to bring your team together and flip the script to serve your customers better than before.

Recommended Podcast: The Game with Alex Hormozi

Hosted by entrepreneur, founder, investor, author, public speaker, and content creator Alex Hormozi, hear how to get more customers, make more profit per customer, how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons Alex has learned and will learn on his path from $100M to $1B in net worth.

Listen here

Book Recommendation: The Obstacle is the Way

The Obstacle Is the Way draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Read here

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Marc Emmer is President and Chief Strategist & Facilitator at Optimize Inc. He is an author, speaker and consultant recognized as a thought leader throughout North America as an expert in strategic planning.