Some old-fashioned values are making a comeback during this COVID crisis. Our priorities have changed. Being indefinitely sequestered has made folks more skeptical about who they choose to do business with. Before the shutdowns, there was so much noise out there that it was almost impossible to distinguish between hype and sincerity. The noise is still out there but now the search for classic values has taken a front seat.
The Big Re-Boot
Before, vendors who could market the loudest seemed to have the advantage, but now the ones with transparency, experience, credibility, and integrity are being sought after. Why? We think it’s because people have used their down time to reset. We are no longer listening to; we are listening for! For what? For who people are, not necessarily what they are selling.
Now that we have sent everyone home to work, to network, and to buy, they are beginning to realize their power. It’s the BUY BUTTON! Why should they support people and companies that don’t have their best interests at heart? Why should they support companies that are not outspoken on human rights, the climate, and healthcare, for instance? Why would they want to finance the lobbyists that are promoting things that negatively effect their families, friends and future?
A New Way of Selling
In other words, who you are is becoming more important than what you are selling. Want to sell something? Show your potential customers who you are first! And who you are had better be transparent, sincere, pro-human and pro-environment! That’s the key to making others feel good about empowering you with their purchases and their money.
COVID has made us all feel powerless. We can’t control what the government is doing, or not doing. We can’t control what our fellow citizens are doing to protect one another, or not. And we can’t control the economy. Increasingly, we can’t control our own future. But one thing we can control is who we give our money to when we hit that BUY BUTTON.
Action, Not Words
Showing people who you are is not just telling them. It’s showing them how you spend your own time and money. It’s showing them how you treat your own people and customers. It’s showing them your support for the rights of all your employees, suppliers, community and customers, no matter their race, national origin, religion, or ethnicity. It’s showing them how you source your materials and effect the environment in your production processes. It’s showing them your concern for their health and welfare. It’s showing them, not telling them!
The paradigm has shifted. Hypocrisy is out. Transparent sincerity and humanity is in. This virus is, like the climate crisis, a human problem. Are you part of the problem or are you part of the solution? This is a sea change and with it, your whole approach to the market. Your buyer now, more than ever, wants to know who you are before they push that almighty BUY BUTTON!
