Times are tough, no doubt. We are all uncertain of what the future holds with many areas of our lives, including our professional careers. What that means for our businesses, clients, and personal relationships is very unknown. What we anticipate our day to day being will likely change in the next week, but we are adapting to a new reality nonetheless.
As someone who is facing a new reality myself being the newest member of the ManoByte team, I did not anticipate beginning my new career during a global pandemic. However, my approach has always been to do everything with good intentions and be prepared regardless of any circumstance. I was not prepared for this, like many others, but my values as a Business Growth Advisor still stand true with this new climate we are facing.
New Questions to ask your team and clients:
Authentic communication with intent is critical during this time. I start my day asking myself these questions before reaching out to anyone; How is your team adapting to this remote world? What strengths can we offer at this time? What might future clients and current clients want to hear from us at this time? And lastly; How may I be the most helpful to my team and clients at this time?
As a seller, my focus is geared towards being human and empathetic. I use this in my personal life and am proud to practice this with clients in my professional life. Something everyone can certainly use more of these days is empathy. Ask the personal questions with sincerity; How are you? How is your family? How is this affecting your business?
Once you have checked in on how they are it’s likely a safe transition to discuss their day to day work, but again, be human!
This is a time to help; not to sell
One thing I have always been taught is to help yourself so you can be helpful to others. Become an expert with the task at hand and know your audience before asking questions and sharing content online or in a meeting. Becoming a resource for others is the most valuable thing you can do as a seller or business owner right now. Being helpful will do the selling for you, even if at first it's just an encouraging conversation.
Intent Data has changed
Intent data is pivoting our normal selling tactics and strategy, but I find that this could be a time to hone in on new practices we can use online to help our clients elevate their business. This is a great opportunity to build a new foundation for strategy so we can ensure confidence in our clients. At ManoByte we are here to help you realign your positioning with your client’s new buying cycle during COVID-19, start by checking back in on your process.
Prior to engaging with a client, do your homework and be sure to put forth time into researching how they are speaking to their audience online—if they are at all during this time. This will help you know how to communicate back. This opens up a great opportunity to show them you are up to speed with how they are navigating this digital/remote world for the most recent topic at hand for everyone: COVID-19.
Everyone is consuming information online more than ever. Like how the coronavirus is affecting the local community, state, nation, and the entire world. We are reading articles guiding us on how to work remotely, empower teams to work remotely, and how to keep your business afloat during these trying times.
Be a resource by using yours
Be a resource to all involved to the best of your ability and if you don’t know an answer to a challenge, seek to find a solution in a timely fashion. If you are not in the mindset of helping others right now then you may find it difficult to make the connections to stay relevant in this ever-changing world. This is our time to practice leadership in the area of our expertise and stand out amongst the masses who are now consuming online content more than ever.
Here at ManoByte, we are always willing to help. Whether that’s chatting about the ever-changing digital technology, talking about implementing new technologies to stay relevant, or just simply answering questions about how to connect with your audience at this time, we are here for you!
