We’re:
- A few weeks from 2026 planning season swinging into high gear
- A few weeks away from the window when many economists say economic data will start to show the full effects of the Trump administration’s trade wars
- Nearing the time when we could see more major potential changes in the U.S. tariff regime
So, how can you steer your leadership team through a planning cycle that appears to be more volatile than even those of other recent years? That’s a question we put before Alex Chausovsky, director of analytics and consulting at Bundy Group, a Charlotte-based investment bank. Chausovsky has more than 20 years of experience as a market researcher and analyst of areas such as economics, business-cycle analysis and industry-specific trends, including manufacturing, automation and industrial technology.
Here, lightly edited for brevity and clarity, are three priorities Chausovsky is asking Bundy Group clients to prioritize as they begin to give shape to their 2026 goals and plans.
‘It’s More Like a Model UN’ – Game Out Different Scenarios
“One of the main kind of strategic initiatives that I’m recommending is that you can’t be reactive. You have to be proactive in developing a variety of scenario plans.
So if scenario a unfolds, then we know exactly what we’re going to do and we’ll be ready to pull the trigger on that plan and execution. And if scenario B happens, then we’ll we’re ready for that, too. And scenario C as well.
So it’s more like a Model UN or war-games mentality of where you’re trying to figure out the different potential outcomes and preparing for those outcomes in advance. That requires a lot more proactive thinking and mind space on behalf of a management team that’s usually thinking 12 to 18 months ahead.
You’ve got to come up with that strategy but for a set of different outcomes. And that’s a really different pivot, I think, from what they’ve had to do in the past and a lot more involved. It takes a lot more energy and effort on their parts. But it’s worthwhile because then, when things do unfold, you are immediately implementing plans and you’re first at the gate. You get the competitive first-mover advantage that really gives you the chance to gain the most market share.
We saw this in COVID times. Some companies, for example, were reactive and laid off a bunch of their workforces versus ones that didn’t. Schneider Electric is a great example of this. It has to do with the fact that they’re a French company so they’re a lot more socially and socialist-minded in nature but they specifically didn’t lay off any of their employees.
They furloughed some people. They asked them to take some hourly cuts. But they kept everyone on board versus some of the American companies like Eaton, for example or Honeywell, where they actually made cuts.
Well, the market-share gains that Schneider was able to make make coming out of that were substantial. And they’ve held on to those market-share gains as time has gone on.”
Use Communication to Build a Moat Around Your Relationships
“Another thing that I’m talking about to people that they can control is a shift in the amount of communication that happens—both up the supply chain and down to the customer base.
If you normally talk to your key accounts once a quarter, turn that into a monthly call. If you’re talking to your supply chain partners once every six months, make sure that you’re doing that quarterly. And be prepared to give information before you ask for information in return.
In my view—and I’ve seen this play out multiple times—it really kind of establishes this moat around the relationship. That’s very difficult to penetrate and so it’s a defensive mechanism that locks down relationships for the long term.
And it gets you into the habit of sharing information more frequently, which is good. And it is something that you can actually control in this great uncertain environment.”
Manage Margins and Look to Leverage Pessimism
“The last element that I tell people to focus on is basically margin preservation. We have this interesting dynamic where the hard data, the industrial production, the new orders, retail activity was holding up very soundly through April. The momentum is showing the business cycle rise. But the soft data—sentiment, small business optimism, consumer confidence—is down and down substantially.
So you can leverage other people’s pessimism to your advantage by saying, “OK, when is the last time we shopped around for our logistics contracts? Can we take the arbitrage in the spot market versus the contract rates? Have we shopped around for our energy providers? Can we get better deals on electricity supply?”
If the people at those companies think we’re imminently going into a recession, they’ll be much more likely to give you a better deal if they want to lock in your business. So you’re kind of leveraging their pessimism to your advantage.
Then, in terms of making pricing adjustments, think about a multi-pronged strategy. Companies are not engaging in a lot of across-the-board price hikes. They are doing that selectively. One of the other tactics I see companies that are kind of best-in-class doing is segmenting their customer base.
For the core group—the ones that bring a lot of volume, the ones that are reliable—they’re trying to keep their prices as steady as possible while doing price increases for the long tail of the one-offs, the smaller guys, the ones that are not reliably ordering. Companies are getting their margin preservation through a tactic like that.
I always say you’re not in business to grow revenue. Although that’s what a lot of growth targets are around: revenue growth. You’re in business to make a profit. Protecting your margin is imperative in this environment where you’re going to have increasing costs.
Companies figure it out. Business finds a way to get it done. We’ll be OK. Just stay calm and carry on for now. But also take advantage of these things that you can adjust in response.”
