3 Ways to Spark a Post - Pandemic Transformation

We are in a new transformation cycle. Is your business participating?

A global pandemic has changed many things in our daily life and how we conduct business. It has also forced us to get creative out of necessity but as we know, necessity is the mother of invention. Some businesses will reinvent processes, create new products, find new target markets and come out of the pandemic stronger and more competitive as a result. Will yours be one of them? If you are not sure, here are a few thoughts to grease the wheels of innovation.

1.)   Did you have to change how you interact with customers during this pandemic?

Almost every business did. Was it just that you could no longer meet in person or was the opportunity always there to have online conferences, curbside pick-up, self service and educational videos? Did your customers use these new interaction tools effectively? Could these tools bring you more customers? Could online conference recordings and educational videos provide new, richer content that would be more engaging than your current web content?

2.)   Did you need to change, tweak or re-think your product line up?

Almost every business did. Zoom quickly discovered that they needed to make the virtual waiting room feature a default so that legitimate participants could screen out trolls listening in or worse, sharing unwanted content. Uber Eats added pickup to their app while restaurants added hard to get consumer items like toilet paper and flour out of their bulk supplies. Restaurants may not carry toilet paper once the pandemic abates but they now have a better idea of what sells on a carry out menu and how to pack it while Uber will keep the pick-up option as long as customers use it. Did the products/features your customers use change? Do these changes suggest new ways customer could use your products or better yet, an unmet need that you can fulfil that would not have ever been addressed unless the pandemic occurred.

3.)   Did the pandemic raise your emotional intelligence?

Almost every business did. Many employees suffered this virus or loved and supported someone who contracted it. Employers had to take a much more tailored approach to employee benefits and compassion. Some donated money, goods or time directly to employees or supporting organizations. Many created special networking opportunities to keep spirits up and foster a sense of community. Stories of drive by celebrations, solo virtual concerts and facetime hospital chats flooded the news. Did these unorthodox methods of connection create stronger bonds with your employees and engender more mutual loyalty? Could some of these supplements our team building efforts and humanize employer/employee relationships even after we are no longer social distancing?

People generally resist change and change brought by a negative experience seems particularly unwelcome. However, the pandemic has forced change that could be helpful. Customer and employee expectations have changed because we have all seen what can be done in a time of trial. Healthy people and businesses will not go back to exactly the same routines, business processes and relationship building strategies once this pandemic has ended. They will use this as a learning experience to fire the imagination of what is possible and choose to keep and expand on those changes that bring better results. Will your business be one of those that continues the transformation and finds better results because of change wrought by the pandemic?