Pivoting In Pandemic
We’ve all heard or read about great pandemic pivot theories. Keep your customers front and center; show exemplary leadership behavior in making the right, albeit hard decisions; don’t let a crisis go to waste. And there have been success stories; Salesforce, and Airbnb, to name a few. But we know how much harder it is for small businesses to apply the same theories in pivoting their business in the face of a global pandemic.
And so we talked to Allison Shapira, the CEO and founder of Global Public Speaking, LLC, given how successfully she had pivoted her small business through the dark days of the pandemic to emerge stronger and better, both for her clients and her staff.
Some of Allison’s key initiatives were:
Initiating wellness checks with the clients, and with staff.
While the business was grappling with existential crises, Allison and her team lost no time in initiating wellness checks with the clients, providing them with free resources. She also initiated the same checks with staff, meeting with them frequently to make sure she had a good sense for their emotional well-being.
Listening to the client with empathy.
As Allison listened to her clients make their own pivots, she took stock of changes in the communication and public speaking space. She learnt that the versatile communicator was not a good-to-have, but a must-have. And that she had a brand new market of online communication needs that she needed to service.
Become even more agile in ideating and executing.
As Allison listened to the emerging needs of her client, she needed to very quickly productise those service offerings.
Have clear vision and singular focus.
Allison knew no matter how tough the going was, especially in the short term, she had to have a clear vision for the long term and to execute it with singular focus. Especially so her team could play the long game with her.
In closing remarks, Allison described the new normal to include.
Increased demand for flexibility from the service provider. And so she expects to see consistent demand in her virtual offerings.
Increased expectation to pivot in real time.