Written by VP of Operations, Vernon Madison.
Every day is still a new adventure. From the days of trying to find toilet paper, to now waiting in long lines for food. The initial shock of the global economy being hit hard with an invisible enemy is over, but what does that mean for your business now?
While change has always been the only constant in business, we’ve never felt a change like this – and its still happening. We know this pandemic has forced some businesses to fold, while others are fighting to stay open. Here at Superhuman Prospecting — having a heroic, fighter mentality is in our DNA. So once we as individuals absorbed the initial shock and horror of COVID-19, and moved our entire company remote, our next thought was how do we THRIVE through this, not just survive.
Below are a few helpful steps to consider when trying to not only survive, but thrive through a crisis:
- Take a restock of you resources
What clients are canceling now? What big deal may still not close? What clients are coming back? What opportunities live now that didn’t before? A critical aspect of being able to succeed is knowing what you have to work with-at any given time. With most businesses, this means reviewing how much revenue is coming in and going out. Taking inventory of your revenue flow and stream a faster intervals is important. We as a leadership team have been running numerous financial scenarios and forecasts prior to making decisions across the entire company. There have been many hard choices to make, but the more we do them, the better we have become at making them.
Equally as important to cash flow is your team and employees. Your employees underpin your revenue flow. Ensure your people have everything they need to be able to work from home, as those things may have changed. We have been shipping headsets across the nation and set up an IT-help desk internally to work with computing issues that may arise. Talk to those with children at home and ensure they still feel supported with any accommodations they need. Have empathy for your clients and employees. You can’t thrive without it!
- Continue innovation
Now is not the time to rely on old ways (ie, those you came up with week 1 of the pandemic!). We’ve been guiding our clients to get creative with how they position themselves and their service during this pandemic, as well as helping them develop strategies on how to position themselves as we move out of it. Just as breweries made hand sanitizer, and the Chicago pizza company made face shields in their ovens, your business needs to continue to innovate to stay relevant. Whether this is a pivot in messaging, creating a new offering, or cross-promoting through partnering with another complimentary product or company. One change we have made to contribute is to provide our cold call results on a monthly and weekly basis to help our clients and the sales space with confidence in appointment setting results for their industry. Most recently, we created a new position within our company to help with marketplace education and content.
- Stick to your vision, but pace yourself
You can’t thrive if you’re burnt out. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it did thrive through pandemics 😉 Like Rome, a business leader still needs to execute on short-term goals and long-term vision, even through extended adverse times. We as business leaders need to take things day-by-day, week-to-week, and revise expectations and timelines appropriately around our business objectives. As states roll out reopening plans, you can use these as a roadmap for when your clients and vendors will be fully operational and back to “normal.”
Take a deep breath, you got this! Doing business through a pandemic doesn’t come with instructions. Follow the advice above and trust in yourself, team, and product. Like the painter Bob Ross used to say, “There are no mistakes, just happy accidents”
Keep Calm and Sell On,
Vernon Madison
