Yesterday was a big day of client calls. Today is another big day of client calls.
Most of these calls revolve around the viral elephant in the room and the impact it's having on people like you and their respective industries.
But one client call yesterday specifically stuck in my mind.
He said that, on the whole, everyone in his industry is in the same boat and this is where it got interesting.
He said that big or small, COVID-19 has leveled the playing field in terms of opportunity.
And he was right, it didn't matter if you were a massive company or a small company. It didn't matter your turnover or number of staff. It didn't matter your marketshare or marketing sophistication.
It's the Wild West out there right now, and people are looking for a sheriff.
We went on to talk about this for a little bit longer and I made the observation that speed in decision making and execution is winning every battle I'm seeing at the moment.
I work with a range of people so I can see at a granular level the decisions these business owners are making and what effect it's having on their business.
In a nutshell:
Companies that are doing something are beating those doing nothing.
Companies who are doing something quickly are beating those who are doing something and still haven't got it launched.
Which means, for now, you need to throw perfection out the window and move your ass to get something done.
It's the one advantage anyone can claim, right now, and it means there's market share available to the person who can get their message out there the fastest and help the people the most, quickly.
Not perfectly.
Just quickly.
There's plenty of time to make things perfect later, but if you want to get in front of people with almost no competition, now is the time.
Your business really only exists for one reason - to help people solve their problems.
Byproducts of successfully solving your customers problems are things like you getting paid.
Don't confuse the order.
And obviously, without getting paid, you can't pay your staff and you certainly can't run a business.
So, the best thing you can do right now is act quickly and deliver a message to your prospects to let them know how you can help them.
With everything going on in the world, you need to have a timely and relevant message - which means for 99% of business you need to directly address COVID-19.
I know a lot of you don't want to, and, like my client on the call yesterday, he said he didn't want to say anything at all because he was worried about saying the wrong thing and scaring people.
But as I went on to explain, the reality of the situation is that everyone is scared, regardless of what you'll say to them.
At the same time, they're also looking for someone to lead them through this period, in the areas that they're expecting your business to step up.
If you can step up and give them some clarity and confidence, say so - loudly, clearly, and often.
They'll thank you for it later.
And if you can't figure out how your offer works during this COVID-19 pandemic, send me an email reply with your 'elevator pitch' and I'll see if we can't rework it to make it more powerful.
It's a free mini-critique based on my old 'one sentence offer' (OSO) workshops I used to hold in Brisbane and Sydney.
Just hit reply, write your elevator pitch, then send.
