Opportunities for Growth. Everywhere.

I want to share direct observations about resourcefulness, ingenuity, and kindness I see working with businesses and executives during this time of unprecedented change. This article is about regeneration and our next great period of personal and professional growth.

To be sure, entire countries, mighty businesses, and the strongest of the strong are feeling unimaginable pain from the personal and economic devastation caused recently by the virus. The COVID-19 virus calamity may be the biggest challenge most of us will ever see. I believe it can be a shining moment that will redefine who we are.

Stress, while painful, also reminds us of what is important.

When I talk to people, I hear and feel extreme levels of stress caused by things like being forced to close doors to customers, having been furloughed, or at the worst, experiencing the loss of a loved one.

There are uncertainty and change to our cherished habits and traditions. Face time with co-workers spent near the coffee machine exchanging ideas or talking about a favorite show is something most of us yearn for. Events as sacred as holiday family meals together are canceled. Customers are unable to visit their favorite restaurants or businesses. It’s understandable if customers and business owners don’t know what to do next.

Here is the thing:  Viruses and epidemics are part of a bigger plan. Economic downturns are an essential phase in a broader lifecycle. In the best of times, business success is hard-earned. The strongest and the best prepared will thrive. Those that wait for things to sort out may be too late to survive.

Stress, while painful, also reminds us of what is important.  Stress relating to a given circumstance that lingers, however, is the result of an unmade decision or the lack of a plan. Stress is relieved with the acceptance of consequences when you know you've done your best. Stress can be directed into positive energy and can be a catalyst to propel us in new directions that will get us through the current crisis and prepare us to thrive in the coming new normal.

Here are some examples of how some determined leaders are pivoting to address the current crisis and to find new ways to serve customers:

• A small auto repair shop has started calling customers and new prospects to perform preventative maintenance on cars during this otherwise quiet time. They pick up and deliver the cars and take payment over the phone. Referrals from existing customers to new customers are way up.
• Restaurant reservation software maker Toast is offering free trials to restaurants to help them transition their business to take out models AND keep people working. Once installed, the restaurants will likely keep using the software after the crisis is passed.  The restaurant industry will remember Toast’s leadership and commitment to the community. 
• A floor design company shut down its showroom and is using free software and mobile devices to engage with customers who are using their time at home to plan renovations
• Professional networking organizations have moved from face to face meetings to virtual meetings using free software like Google Meet, Zoom, etc. The national BNI organization provided training to chapter leadership so that the first virtual meetings would be efficient and a good experience for first-time virtual meeting users. The meetings were great, and the attendees agreed that virtual meetings should be alternated with face to face meetings in the future.  
• A brochure was dropped in my mailbox for spray tanning service where the spa comes to your front door.  We can argue if this is an essential service or if it poses a danger to spread the virus, but the point is that this business owner is determined to find a way to move forward.
• Fitness chains are offering on-line exercise classes both recorded and live.  They are experiencing 80-250% increases in sign-ups and keeping their customers thinking about their brand.
• Hamburger stands are implementing phone apps and using touchless payment options to protect their workers and to keep the doors open.   
• Outbound call center services are mobilizing—allowing their workers to work from home and offering their services to smaller businesses to accommodate peak demand for products and services.     

A new normal?

Aspects of our community and work-life will never be the same.  Legions of people are being exposed to virtual meeting software for their first time in order to attend a birthday party, a church service, or a Rotary meeting.  Usage of virtual meeting software like Go to Meeting and Zoom increased 20x past levels over the last month.

The work at home, work in an office argument has taken a considerable pivot.    Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, and other analyst organizations see no reduction in white-collar productivity as work shifts from an office to home.    Workers are finding great things to do with the 1-2 hours previously spent commuting to work daily, and studies show that people can be MORE productive by working fewer, more focused hours.    Preparing for changes in customer preferences, leading office furniture companies are planning for new in-home products and have increased shipments of adjustable desks to workers' homes.

Managers are turning to simple, free communication tools like WhatsApp, Slack, and others to motivate and manage employees learning to work from home.    An emerging best practice is to have each member of the team share their daily goals or top 3 tasks as ways of keeping teams accountable, competitive, and collaborative while they work from home.

Design and entertainment businesses that rely on visual collaboration are moving to platforms like Bluescape so that stakeholders can participate in the design process from remote locations as if they were all standing in front of a whiteboard in the design studio.  This means the creative process can become a 24/7 continuous process rather than one constrained by the availability of the stakeholders to convene at a preset time and location.

In China, we saw a 25% increase of people in their 40s conducting their first online transactions in January. Traditional businesses that implemented capabilities to take orders and deliver goods and services remained open and collected cash. At the same time businesses that did not offer digital options or new service models may not reopen at all`.  Most customers that “get over the hump” and learn how to use an eCommerce platform like Amazon or Alibaba once, keep coming back based on advantages like low cost, increased personalization, and better overall buying experience.   

What now?

How will your business compete going forward?    How will you evolve as a leader?  What do you want your career to look like?    What do you want your work-life balance to look like?

Success-oriented people are shaping their futures while others wait for the dust to settle.    Do you have a plan for your business or your career?    How are your goals, strategies, and tactics evolving in the face of the unprecedented changes unfolding?

Thrive. It beats the alternatives. Recommendations:

1.     Take stock of your situation and your goals for your future. Consider what you are good at doing, what makes you happy and where you can make the greatest possible difference for customers, teammates, family, and community. Write down your top 10 goals and create a new plan on how to achieve them. Consider the outcomes you want relating to Financial Independence, Business Success, Family and Relationships and Health. Evaluate all the incredible people in your life and share your goals and ask for their help and advice. Ask them about their goals and help them.

2. If you are a business owner, consider the possibilities of what your business could be 5 years out if it were truly excellent at customer intimacy, operational efficiency and technical excellence simultaneously. Why 5 years out? Most businesses overestimate what they can get done in a year and greatly underestimate what they can accomplish in 5 years. Think BIG, and involve your team and experts to anticipate roadblocks and systematically address the issues over the 5-year window. The outcome will be staggering if you execute well.

3.    Act now. Later in your life, this will very likely be THE pivotal time in your life where you see a clear delineation of BEFORE and AFTER. This is a time to focus your energies on the things you can change and to turn down the noise on the things you can’t.   

Need more help to evaluate your current situation and revise your plan? I work with successful business leaders when they recognize the pace of change is outpacing their ability to execute. I leverage my 30 years helping businesses sell more and the proven FocalPoint system to help leaders improve performance in terms of time, team, money, and exit.

I’m here to help.    

https://calendly.com/charlieatagile/15min