In our experience we have companies in the marine industry doing well and some badly, nothing new there but we have greater extremes now. In the last meltdown of the early 90’s when interest rates flew to 15% at the Southampton Boat Show but one thing came to the fore.

Those offering good value and great customer service came out smelling of roses when things inevitable calmed down. That’s Public Relations in its purest form, looking after the customer you have, and giving him the very best experience of your company takes precedence over all other marketing activity.

This will pay dividends in the future when it comes to personal recommendations and product upgrades.

'We do that already' you'll say. Really? Well take another look and then again, check every aspect of the customer journey to ensure you are better, offer the greatest value and remove every obstacle confronting the buyer.

The best way to achieve this is by using a third party unattached to your business to provide their views. If you are a manufacturer, take a closer look at your dealers presentation and knowledge of your product.

Tough times require serious focus on your marketing effort and the long term benefits are huge when the markets become more fluid and you are head and shoulders ahead of the companies which did not read this column.

Don’t leave things to the last minute either. Some magazines are already looking for Southampton preview news, so take advantage of getting your new product covered now.

But I'm sure your PR company has already reminded you of this...