Some business have weathered the pandemic and its lockdowns better than others. Some have been unable, through no fault of their own, to continue operating, but others have stagnated.

What can we learn from those who have made a success of themselves throughout the craziness of the past 11 months?

They kept the human touch

The human touch is something that has definitely felt like its lacking – after all, we’re working from home, not seeing friends, not going out for drinks and not filling our diaries with meetings.

Instead, we’re sending more sales emails than ever before (and seeing lower response rates as people’s inboxes have been inundated). But the businesses that have held on best are the ones that managed to keep up the human connection – whether that’s through video emails or reaching out via the phone for a more personalised introduction.

They kept on reaching out

And that outreach is super important – plenty of businesses assumed that with people spending more time online, all they needed to do was ramp up their digital marketing efforts. While there’s nothing wrong with doing that, it’s not always enough. And, as we’ve already covered, the email marketing side of things started to get a bit in-your-face for a while there.

Successful businesses know that it’s worth reaching out in multiple different ways. Telemarketing and calling are two ways that have been especially effective – mainly because they at least give you an opportunity to make a real connection, in a way that email simply can’t.

Of course, the businesses that reach out most effectively are the ones with a defined target audience and a great message about the value they can provide.

They pivoted

Sorry, I know that word got bandied around a lot. But for some businesses, pivoting was essential. Bars that started selling at home cocktail kits, event management companies that helped build the Nightingale Hospitals, and alcohol manufacturers creating and selling hand sanitiser – businesses that couldn’t operate because of lockdown found a way to continue, by using their skills in a new way.

They needed to get the word out about their new approaches, so social media and digital channels were all buzzing with news of these great pivots. Smaller companies reached out to new target markets in multiple ways, to keep going no matter what.

They maintained focus

This may sound contradictory to the item above, but even when pivoting, you can maintain focus. You just have to know what you’re focusing on. For some, it was survival. For others it was business growth. The key for those successes was to stay focused on the end goal. It didn’t matter if the road to reaching it had more curves and speedbumps than ever before, the goal stayed in focus.

If you have a goal to focus on, it’s easier to pivot, it’s easier to navigate those bumps in the road – you just find a new way. That’s not to say it was possible for everyone, and we’re deeply saddened by the businesses that simply couldn’t continue no matter how hard they tried. But for those that were able, focus was a key element.

They invested

Some invested time, others invested money, and others invested both. Finding a way to do everything during a lockdown, especially if you had people on furlough, has been tough. Successful businesses know they can’t always do everything, and know that it’s necessary to bring in outsourced support sometimes.

Talking of investing – if you’d like to invest in getting more leads, well, why not give us a whistle?

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