What’s Your New Normal? Take Control

I sure hope our new normal is not people wearing masks and gloves and distancing themselves.

Never to give a handshake or a hug again?

Never being able to tell if someone is smiling or not because they’re wearing a mask?

It goes without saying that we are living in odd but interesting times . . . and everything changed in the blink of the eye.

We thought it was temporary, then we sheltered in place, then a month went by with no changes in site.

Stories of the virus spreading, the numbers rising, people starting to wear face masks and gloves.

Is this our new normal?

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and had to wait, 6 feet from the next person, on an X, outside until the clerk gave the next person in line the go ahead to enter the store. When I did get in, I noticed all the clerks had face masks and gloves on, and of course the check stands were all equipped with Plexiglas to create a barrier that the virus hopefully wouldn’t pass through.

Today, I went to the doctor’s office and I was stopped at the entrance. Have I been tested for the coronovirus? Have I been exposed to someone who has it? Do I have any unusual symptoms? Then they took my temperature and directed me an X to stand on. The check-in ladies all had masks and gloves on.

Then I went to Home Depot and there was a long line to get in. It wasn’t worth it for the light bulbs I wanted to buy. I don’t need them that badly, I just wanted to replenish my stock. So I headed home.

I sure hope it’s not the new normal. I get that we have to take precautions because we don’t know that much about the virus. And until we do, we need to protect ourselves.

But businesses are closed, hopefully temporarily. How many will survive? When the dust settles, how many empty buildings will we see?

It’s sad. And interesting at the same time.

What are you doing differently? How is your business morphing?

It’s a time to reinvent ourselves, to meet the needs of our customers and clients.

Restaurants are offering take out.

Churches are broadcasting services online.

Hair dressers are mixing up color for their clients and making videos to show them how to apply it.

Business is being conducted virtually. Zoom has gotten so popular that hackers are having a hey day, so we have to add passwords and be sure not to post the Zoom ID on our web pages.

I belong to a business networking group, BNI, that switched from in-person meetings to Zoom. It’s been wonderful to stay connected with them, to share our concerns, to lift each other up, and to still conduct business!

I talked to an interior designer yesterday who is still doing business. The customer has to do more of the work than normal. They have to take the measurements and show her virtually what the room looks like.

People are being so creative! I’m amazed at the stories I’ve heard.

We are in control of how we respond

This is the time to plan for when we reopen, because we will.

Business won’t be back to normal for a long time.

There will be less seating in restaurants. I would expect there will be more take out.

People still want what you have, they will just have to access it differently.

What can you do to get your product or service to your customer (products) or clients (services)?

Have you thought about it?

Will more businesses be working from home? That’s been somewhat of a trend for quite some time, but it requires looking through different lenses.

You can’t clock in and clock out from home. Or can you? But you won’t be seated in an office where your boss can tell if you’re working or not.

You have to shift to productivity model and how to monitor that instead. It’s a different mindset.

Not everyone can work from home though.

Mechanics can’t.

Plumbers and electricians go to the site, so they are project oriented, right? Did they do the job or not? Did they do it well?

This is a great time to think outside the box and create a new normal

Be creative.

Meet the needs of your clients and customers.

Brainstorm new ideas.

I’m reading The Anomaly Mindset by Sandi Krakowski and in it she talks about the Amish during a recession who opened up a drive thru coffee shop. They don’t drive, but their customers do.

She also talks about not doing things the way we are expected to do them.

What is it that Tony Robbins says?

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.”

I think that should now say, “If you do what you’ve always done, you might not survive.”

It’s wonderful that our government is willing to help small businesses out right now. But that won’t last, not without breaking our economy.

And let’s face it. Small business is what drives our economy.

Plus, the government won’t have any money to help us out if we aren’t out there building our businesses and pay them taxes.

So let’s figure out new ways of doing business. Or shift to a new business model. Or find a new service to offer.

How are you creating a new normal?

How can I help?