Do You Know What Your Prospects’ Changing Priorities Are Now?
By Christy Vogel
Imagine a time before COVID. You had a plan and you worked it. You knew your target market – what their needs were, their challenges, their pains and their triumphs. You knew the best way to reach them, which most often was in-person meetings and trade shows. Yes, you and your team had it all figured out…and then the pandemic struck and everything you knew changed.
What used to work may not be working quite as well now. Situations have changed as well as daily routines. Your prospects’ priorities—as well as those of your clients—are different.
Unfortunately, there’s no script we can use as a reference to help us determine what to do next. Conducting business the way we used to, however, is not the answer.
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”—Peter Drucker
The ability to respond to a client’s needs in real time is…[read more]
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They Say / We Say
During these challenging times, everyone is feeling stressed, including your clients or customers. Clear, up-front, proactive communication is key to maintaining relationships among all parties. This is especially critical if your company is being impacted by supply chain delays, layoffs and other business interruptions resulting from the pandemic.
“Staying silent about COVID is in fact making a marketing decision to not connect with your audience at a time when they may really need to hear from you,” states Jolie Higazi, Content Marketing Trainer with Impact, a digital sales and marketing company. “The key point is it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in – COVID is affecting you or your prospects in some way or another, and it’s your job to inform them about this proactively instead of leaving it to them to guess or reach out and ask.”
Marketing Direction Lead Marketer Jennifer Frisbie believes in delivering “good news fast and bad news faster.” During these times of uncertainty, things are changing at a rapid pace that is sometimes difficult to keep up with. “Keeping clients apprised of any anticipated difficulties will put you in a better place than having to apologize later if something goes wrong,’ Jennifer explains. Communicate proactively any potential challenges you foresee and propose solutions to overcome those issues.
“Companies who keep in mind their clients also have goals to meet can develop and maintain positive relationships by keeping the lines of communication open and discussing both successes and challenges,” Jennifer advises.
