I live in a really nice apartment that looks over the Manhattan skyline. I am lucky to have such a great view. But there was a guest in my home that once looked out the window and said, “You have to look at that dumpster every day?” I looked straight down and saw, for the first time, a dumpster.
I realized that there are a lot of things to look at and you must decide which ones to focus on. I could look at the dumpster, but I would rather look at the Empire State Building. Or the Freedom Tower. Or the ferries on the Hudson.
In this crazy COVID-19 world, it’s easy to look out there and see nothing but the dumpster.
Your trade shows are all canceled, so you don’t know where your leads are coming from. Your face-to-face sales team can’t see anyone face to face, so even if you get a lead, you can’t close it. That’s not a dumpster. That’s a dumpster fire. And how do you avoid looking at it?
So, I get it. Everything was going fine until–it wasn’t. And it’s easy to focus on all of the things that are going wrong. Because so many of the things that we depend on to execute our marketing and sales are not working right now. The dumpster fire is eye-catching. It’s surprising. It’s news. It can dominate everything–if you let it.
But that’s likely not going to get you out of the crisis. You need to look past the dumpster fire and see what else is out there. If face-to-face has become shelter-in-place, it’s time to double down on digital. And that starts with changing your attitude from “Who moved my cheese?” to “What can I do now that might work?”
Your answer to that question might not be the same as for someone else. What’s important is that you spend the time looking for what is right for you. For some, it’s online events to replace trade shows. Or maybe it is a better email. Or website personalization. Or improved site search. Something to replace those leads you are missing.
Maybe it’s something you’ve been meaning to do for a while but never got around to it. You have time now.
Maybe it’s something you never had the budget to do. Well, that trade show budget could be better spent on almost anything now, right? Try something.
So, you decide to look at the Empire State Building or the Freedom Tower or the ferries. But stop looking at the dumpster fire. That isn’t where your future lies.
