Tag: covid

Flexibility As A Selling Point

Yesterday,
I talked about how
the world is challenged right now
and flexibility will be
key to success
going forward.

Flexibility will also
be a key selling point
for products/services
going forward.

It WILL influence
more and more buying decisions.

Flexibility could look like…

Offering cancellation insurance.

Making it easy for customers
to rebook services.

Allowing customers
to change delivery times.

Giving customers
a credit
when they cancel.

Allowing customers
to switch from pick up
to delivery.

Accommodating customers
with last minute bookings
or changes.

Flexibility WILL be
a selling point.

Can you factor flexibility
into your product or service?

Flexibility Will Be Key

A loved one and I
were planning to go on vacation
soon.

This vacation will likely
be postponed
due to a strike.

We’ll be okay financially
as we had planned
for a possible delay.

We had thought that delay
would be
climate change
or pandemic (COVID or the next one)
related.

It was a strike,
something entirely different.

Flexibility will be key
to success
going forward.

Try to make your plans
as flexible as possible
AND
try to increase
your customers’ flexibility
when using
your products/services.

Things happen.
They will continue
to happen.
Plan for that.

Design Your Business For An Ailing Population

Even the WHO has admitted
that 1 in 10 COVID infections
result in long COVID.

On average,
North Americans are catching
COVID 2 times a year.

That means
roughly
EVERYONE will have long COVID
in 5 years.

Design your business
around that.

Assume the population
will be ill.

Minimize the number of people
needed to run your business
and to produce your product.

Make your product
easy for an ill person
to use.

Heck, make your marketing
easy for an ill person
to understand.

Prepare yourself
and your business
for this new reality.
It is coming.

Design your business
around an ailing population.

How To Gain A Strategic Advantage

I’ve been following the disaster
that is this year’s
Giro d’Italia.

Day after day,
top competitors
have dropped out
due to COVID.

It has become
quite clear
that one of the biggest
strategic advantages
in that race
will be
merely staying healthy.

I strongly believe
that is true now
in ALL fields,
not only competitive racing.

Staying healthy
or healthier
means we’re able to do more sh*t,
go more places,
think clearly.

All of that
will increase our chances
of success.

Do what you can
to stay as healthy as possible.

It is NOT All Or Nothing

I was wearing a mask
while shopping in a grocery store.

A woman stopped me
and told me
I should stay home
if I was so scared of COVID.

It isn’t all or nothing.

We can wear masks
and continue to do
all the things
we love to do.

The all or nothing thinking
is EVERYWHERE
and it often hampers our success
and, in this lady’s case,
threatens our lives.

We don’t have to, for example,
source
all our supplies locally
or source
all our supplies internationally.

We can source some supplies
locally
and some supplies
internationally.

We don’t have to be
a purely charitable organization
or
a purely for-profit organization.

We can have a charitable component
in our for-profit organization.

It is not all or nothing.
Some is an option.

Mother’s Day Marketing

Many companies are allowing customers
to opt out of Mother’s Day promotions.

Mother’s Day is emotionally rough
for a LOT of people.

It will be especially rough
this year
as we’re three years
into a pandemic.

There have been
SO many losses
and many of the losses
have been Moms.

Other losses
have been kids
(and that includes
grown kids).

Be sensitive
regarding Mother’s Day.

Don’t assume
everyone wants
to remember the day.

Take Action

The world has some challenges
right now.
There is at least one
major pandemic happening.
There’s climate change.
There are wars brewing.

This causes stress.
And stress isn’t good
for any of us.

I’m a doer.
Doers…well…
we do.

Taking action
relieves stress
for me.

It doesn’t have
to be big action.
I pick worms off pavement
and put them on the grass
after the rain.
I let my dandelions grow
and feed the bees.
I wear a mask
while in indoor public places.
I stay home
when I’m feeling ill.

I do little things.
But the important part
for me
and for my stress levels
is…
I DO things.

Take action
if you’re stressed
about the state
of the world.

Quietly Do The Right Thing

A buddy monitors
air quality
wherever she goes.

She has noticed
that many businesses
now have awesome air quality.

When she asked
some of these business owners,
they admitted
they had upgraded
their ventilation systems,
improving their air cleaners.

They were concerned
about their employees’
and their customers’ health
and they realized illnesses
weren’t going away.

But they didn’t promote
these upgrades
because
‘no one wants to hear
about COVID anymore.’

They quietly did good.

Not every positive action
has to be broadcast.
You can take positive action quietly.

Oh and consider
upgrading your air cleaning systems.

Because your competitors
certainly are.

Listen To The Warnings

A buddy
called me a doomer
a couple of days ago.
He said
he didn’t want to hear
any more negativity.

That’s fine.
I prefer not to talk
about possible challenges.
I would rather
talk about TV shows
and other trivial topics.

I shared those insights
because I’d feel guilty
if his already struggling business
failed
or he and his family suffered hardships
because I HADN’T warned him.

No one wants to tell you
bad news.
It is a total bummer
for the messenger.

We tell you bad news
because we care about you,
because we feel
you should know about it.

You don’t have to act on
these warnings.
But, at the very least,
listen to them.

It is a communication
of caring.

Leveling The Playing Field

A friend of mine
works in the film industry.

He told me
that the actors who are most vocal
about dropping mask mandates
on set
are also the actors
whose abilities
to recite lines
have been damaged
by past bouts of COVID.

They can’t remember sh*t.
And they know
this is f*cking with
their ability to do their job.

So they want everyone else
to be in the same situation.
They want other actors
to have THEIR brains damaged
by COVID also.

They want to level
the playing field.

If everyone has
a sh*tty memory,
they won’t be unusual.
They might still
keep their high profile jobs.

It is a devious
and desperate strategy.
But it is ALSO effective.

People are selfish.
Remember that.