This week, I was asked to participate in a webinar on the topic "Business As Usual Is Cancelled - Now What Do We Do?"
As major trade shows and events are cancelled, many businesses are left scrambling to find ways to replace the expected traffic, conversations, demonstrations and sales leads. Shifting on the fly is not always easy.
I was able to join Cary Weston of Sutherland Weston in Bangor, Maine and Josslynne Welch from Litzky PR in Hoboken, NJ to share some practical short and medium-term tactics to help keep your business visible and adjust to what faces us moving forward.
Three takeaways from our conversation were:
We are living in a rare, universally shared human experience, so feel free to be real. This doesn't mean you should be unprofessional, but this is not business as usual. You're hiding from the children and trying to work. It's stressful. Connect. Ask how people are doing. This is a nice deviation from "norms" - you might make some new connections.
If you're a formal brand, try and let your hair down a little bit. People appreciate the human connection.
As Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of Hubspot posted on LinkedIn this week:
Note To Self: Nobody minds when your kid, spouse or cats wander into the frame during a video meeting. Quit being embarrassed and apologetic.*
* One could make the case that this makes you more human and relatable, just like having conversations like this one in your head.
The memes abound, but we've all certainly found out who has our email address. If you're contacting customers about current events, make it helpful information for them. Be relevant, timely, and answer their questions/solve their problems. They don't need a link to the CDC or a tutorial on washing hands. We got that. How does your product or service help them right now? What do they need to know that has recently changed? If you don't have much to say, wait until you do.
It doesn't mean that business is shut down. Sure, some people might not be in a buying mood at the moment (depending on your product or service), but you can be helpful and stay connected. Help them, build trust.
Have a little extra time? Try a new tactic. Record a video post, write something. Everyone's got a low production value right now, so it's a great time to jump in and try. Your kid can hold your camera!
You can watch the full, unedited version of the webinar as well if you have an extra hour.