If you’re like me, you have seen an INSANE increase to the volume of incoming emails in the past few months. It’s mind numbing: every single company you have ever had any kind of relationship with is reaching out to try to reassure you, attract you, differentiate themselves, and more. It’s just too much!

(I knew things had gone over the top when I got an email from my son’s pediatrician…my son is now 26 years old! That list person dug DEEP to pull together that email list, for sure)

This is the most important time ever to not TALK to your customers but to LISTEN to them. Just as your business is having to twist and turn to adjust to new business and human interaction realities, your customers are having to do the same. It’s very important for you to be aware of what changes and adjustments they are making so you can help them succeed and survive as we all move into a ‘new normal’.

What does listening look like?

  • Capture what you want to know: Spend about 30 minutes brainstorming with others in your organization to capture what you don’t know—what you may have been able to assume about your customers and their needs and the value you/your product provided BEFORE Covid 19 hit. If you are really honest with yourselves, most of these things can no longer be assumed to be the truth. Capture the questions you would want to ask a customer if they were sitting right there in the room with you…things to include (questions as you would ask them when talking to YOUR customers):
    • “What is the biggest shift your organization is facing right now?”
    • “What are you doing to address that?”
    • “What has changed for your customers; how does that change how they look at your product/services?”
    • “Have you found other ways to position/market your product that would address new problems that your clients are facing?”
    • “How can we help you make the kinds of adjustments you are focused on right now?”
    • “What else should we know about the challenges you have right now?
  • Pick up the phone: Think about who in your organization may be under utilized right now based on the shift of energy in your company and get them on the phone, talking to current customers and maybe even prospects! People that can help: implementation specialists, salespeople, marketing folks and beyond.
  • Share the information internally: Make sure that there is one place for people to share the information they are gathering from customers. (maybe set up a quick online survey for people to capture what they are hearing) And make sure that you have one person assigned to review the information and look for trends Any trends that you are seeing should be brought to executives in your organization who are trying to make decisions about how to help the organization pivot and remain relevant given the changes that you are facing.

This whole process needs to happen quickly…understanding your clients’ current realities; communicating what you have learned to your client base, your marketing team, your salespeople; and taking action in a way that provides them value. Can you think of anything more important that you could be doing (other than continuing to deliver your products/services to clients)?

We are all navigating lots of changes right now…and it’s fascinating to see the shifts that all sorts of companies/businesses are making to survive. Just look around your own community to see how some businesses have figured out how to remain open without having customers come onsite. I went to a virtual wine/cheese tasting class recently! The winery had never even THOUGHT of doing that in the past, but it was a huge success and made their head winemaker much more accessible than before…who knows what that will do to making customers feel a bit more loyal to this winery? Food for thought…

These kinds of stories are exciting and really give me hope that both our B2B and B2C economy will survive this unwelcome shift!

I’d love to hear what kind of shifts you are already making in your business to stay relevant in Covid time…