I was very fortunate for 16 years to be a part of an amazing mastermind group called Consultants West. We met once a month and shared ideas and posed questions .At the end of each meeting i felt like my head was exploding from all the possibilities. Sadly, the group disbanded a few years ago. Trying to find a replacement has been difficult but thanks to Peter Shankman I have been able to have my brain explode, again. I have referred his book Zombie Loyalists to many clients. It contains great information on customer service and brand loyalty. Recently I attended 2 of his events. The first was a panel of his colleagues who gave a lot of insights about how to cope with the quarantine. Today he gave more insights about how to differentiate yourself and business.
From the panel I was reminded to
1.Contact present and past clients and ask how they are and how I might be able to help them. no selling. Right now connections are key to our futures in terms of who we can help with information. This will be remembered when they need to hire people with the skills we have.
2.Create routines and no they don’t have to be as tight as when you were not quarantined, but you need to maintain some type of schedule so you will at least know what day it is.
3.Now is the time to look at inefficiencies of industries and what can change. Streaming movies instead of the theaters. Drive-ins are making a comeback.
4. We are all innovators doing something new or different to satisfy customer needs .
This past week Peter did a free Zoom seminar and the comments truly made me think about ways to help my clients and myself. I am going to share a few here and would love to know how you are changing the way you do business and the way you live.
1. Conferences can’t be held as they used to be. Some groups are doing simple downloading of speaker presentations and posting them on a site. Then there is vfairs.com They do a complete simulation in which the attendees get to “walk” the conference and meet vendors as well as hear speakers. They also compete with Zoom, go to meetings, and more;
2. Speaking of Zoom and all the others like Google, Ring Central, Go to Webinar, Adobe connect, and so many more, these products are changing how we work remotely. They are also changing how I teach. UCLA uses Adobe Connect. I can see my students I can share files with them they can go into breakout groups. and I don’t have to drive in traffic and neither do they.
3.Peter shares the story of Barry Diller from Paramount and 20th Century who would randomly call people just to see how they were, not selling, As Maya Angelou said we may not remember what you said or did but we remember how you made us feel. How much do you think people appreciated the check in call? Especially now?
4.Do a free zoom call or newsletter giving advice and letting them know how you might be able to assist them
5.Think about subscription services. Especially now we can’t really shop but imagine having the merchandise delivered; from streaming movies, to books, to clothing, to wine, to razors, and so on
6.What innovations are in different fields If you want to display pictures but not buy a lot of frames check out mixtiles.com
7. Can’t really travel right now. What can travel agents do to keep you interested? Get a video or have it live on zoom showing you places you want to see giving you recipes and meeting people who live there that you can meet when you are ready to travel
8. Telehealth is a great system for therapists to help their clients. I had a doctor’s check up on google duo
Right now we all need to think like innovators and entrepreneurs, we need to look at trends and ask lots of questions. What are people missing and how can we help them get it.? A store owner is partnering with other merchants to help people create their environment with clothing, candles, home accessories, honey, and more.
What are people talking about? Listen to what people say and don’t say
Now is the time to think differently. A Real Estate agent I know mailed me her newsletter with forget me not seeds. I won’t forget her.
What can you do?
Recent Comments