I remember a year ago, about a week before COVID-19 showed up in our region, I was leading a discussion group of business owners. I had planned questions around the relationship between creativity and productivity and some other related topics. There was one guest, who had engaged in frequent travel around the globe with a focus on Asia, who really wanted to talk about the virus and what it was going to do once it showed up in full force here in the U.S. Well, as leader of the discussion that day, I would have none of it. I wanted to stick to the topic I had proposed, not wanting to engage in that discussion right then.

Who could have known at the time how right that person was? He knew it was important to discuss the pandemic’s impact and how it would change things. The COVID-19 outbreak has now been a reality of life for an entire year. I don’t think any of us would have expected the pandemic to impact us like it has, nor persist as a disruption to life and business in the way it has.

In many ways, COVID surprised us. There is no doubt it has changed us. How it will continue to change us remains to be seen. As I continue to have more conversations with new prospects and colleagues, the number one question I’m asking is this: How has the pandemic affected you? A follow-up question alongside that one is how has the pandemic affected your business?

For a long time, I avoided conversations about this topic. Now, a year into our shared ordeal against a common foe, I am eager to examine personally and professionally how the landscape has shifted because of this situation. Rather than avoid it, I am choosing to engage it. 

There are clients I had in March 2020 that are not my clients anymore. The opposite is also true. Businesses have appeared and disappeared. Some businesses have been almost ready to close and then experienced a rebirth and new growth.

The reality is that the pandemic has touched every business, changing the way that we think and perceive the world around us. Every aspect of how business is done has been affected and I expect many of those changes to linger for a long time. 

• Customers have changed: Their perceptions, aspirations, and expectations for brand experiences are different. 
• The landscape has changed: In many cases, markets have contracted as competitors have joined forces and virtual tools have made remote collaboration a necessity for conducting business.
• Methods and approaches have changed: Businesses that have wanted to survive and sustain must adapt how they create and distribute new products and services if they want to continue soaring
• Brand communication has changed: Shared values and overall experience are increasingly important to customers. 

I bet that you can think of other ways the pandemic has changed things, especially within your industry or practice area. There are many ways things have changed, too many to go over here. Like it or not, the pandemic is an axis upon which the world of business has turned dramatically in a short period of time. 

Thankfully, by all accounts, we are on the road to recovery. What is not certain is when the economy will be officially “recovered” and just what that will look like. Every day brings good news of vaccines, easing restrictions, economic stimulus and decreasing infection and death rates. What is certain is that our lives and businesses have been challenged, but also changed in profound and lasting ways. 

Though you may be like me and not want to think too much about the virus and all the havoc it has wreaked, I urge you to try to do so. Here is why it is a good practice to think about it and ask questions about it. By asking the question, you acknowledge that things are in fact different. But you don’t have to linger on the negative; you can still focus on the positive.

The most important reason to ask the question is this: It humanizes you and the person you are talking with. People want to do business with humans. Though for a long while I wanted to press ahead and push to “get things back to normal,” now I want to hear the stories, understand the experiences. Understanding how this ongoing situation is continuing to impact your community will only help you to serve better and sell better.

I certainly don’t advocate lingering in this situation or making light of it, but it’s important and insightful to consider how we’ve all been affected. The pandemic was/is a shared human experience of loss, suffering, confusion, anger etc. It’s important to acknowledge that. For posterity, it’s important to share our pandemic stories, both the good and bad, the tragic and the triumphant.

I don’t advocate lingering in this situation or making light of it, but it’s important and insightful to consider how we’ve all been affected. The pandemic was/is a shared human experience of loss, suffering, confusion, anger etc. It’s important to acknowledge that. For posterity, it’s important to share our pandemic stories, both the good and bad, the tragic and the triumphant.

There are numerous small businesses that were around in March 2020 that do not exist anymore. If the business you are engaging with is still around, it’s an opportunity to acknowledge that and celebrate. It also provides the basis for conversation about what they did to sustain or grow and what plans and goals are for the future. Even if you were forced to shutter, there are valuable “lessons in your losses,” valuable insights that you can share to help others or yourself for the next opportunity you decide to pursue.

In a time where everyone wants to be a brand, sharing our pandemic stories makes us more human. And more humanity is just what is needed everywhere.

 

Enthuse Creative is a strategic branding and design firm based in Tysons, VA providing valuable brand strategy, design, experience and leadership for growing businesses and organizations. Contact us for a free consultation or to work together on strategy and tactics that will help you build your firm’s brand equity.