Now is an intense time for business relationships. Customers are holding onto cash, reviewing their overheads, and battening their hatches for 2009. Good operators will still look to the future, however, with a mature sobrietry, and make rational ROI decisions, albeit more carefully. So now is a good time to steal a march on the competition and lift the game with offers that demonstrate empathy with buyers' basic and current business drivers. It is not the time to make rash cuts to your capability or, worse, to make like a typical retail bank and go cold on your customers, treating them with a sudden risk aversion. This brand bipolarity will blow your cover and destroy trust for years. People will remember these times - the brave vs the cowardly; the honest vs the deceptive.