For almost 2 years, businesses of all sizes have made triumphant strides toward the ever-evolving “new normal.”
From embracing the digital shift to working with dispersed employees across the globe, companies have rolled with the metaphorical punches as the worldwide pandemic (and the domino effects in its wake) plagued the world.
Both in life and business, elements are still evolving. We must continue to adapt in order to survive and succeed. The secret to redefining normal is taking action today. How can you make small but substantial changes now to better your brand?
Accept change and take massive action towards delivering exceptional solutions to your customers. Responsive enterprises thrive even in uncertain times through customer-centricity, operational effectiveness, and agility.
Businesses across the board are already taking action on their strategy to dominate the new year. According to our recent customer survey:
47% of brands are reallocating budgets to align with advances in digital technology.
40% of brands are reallocating budgets to improve brand awareness.
39% of brands are reallocated budgets to gather data-driven insights.
No matter how you plan to define “normal” for your business, approach the new year with a strong start.
Here are three actions you can take right now to build up your digital capabilities in 2022 and beyond:
What you do today will impact your tomorrow.
Our team at Reactionpower is here to help you take action, get more done and navigate the changing times.
Martin Luther King Jr. legacy inspires us to be more, to find hope even in the face of our finite disappointments… To hold fast even when we cannot see.
MLK inspires us to believe in a better world and our power to create one.
To build a better world … or a better life, or a better future… we must believe that it’s possible.
Believe.
Believe you are here, in this season, for a reason.
There’s a lot in this world we can’t see with our eyes.
But if you look with your heart, you’ll see amazing possibilities
everywhere and all around you.
Believe.
Believe we can build a better world.
Despite all our problems, worries, and wars,
there’s still so much caring, goodness and kindness
in us… each of us.
Together we can light the world.
Believe.
Believe that together we’re better.
The story of the human spirit is the story of people who believed in themselves, and in one another.
Believe.
Believe that the best is yet to be.
Believe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
Believe you might be that light for yourself and someone else.
Believe.
Happy Martin Luther King Day!
80% of marketing leaders say the volume of campaigns, requests, and content increased over the last year.
That’s a lot of new work.
We surveyed 259 marketing leaders to understand how they’re overcoming challenges.
Here’s a quick look at the insights we found:
To overcome these challenges and ensure success in 2022, you need 3 key elements:
Your strategy ensures you will measure what matters.
As the marketing leader, you must consider the bigger picture: How does marketing play a role in your company’s success? How can you reach your ideal customer in a competitive field? What is your customer’s experience? What do customers want throughout the entire lifecycle and buying journey? And, can the company meet those buyers’ needs with the maximum return on investment? These questions go beyond marketing efficiency and push the boundaries of marketing innovation to move the needle on sales, customer loyalty, and lifetime customer value.
When everyone understands your larger strategy, they see how their progress can directly impact success, creating an aligned approach to data. Focus ensures you are tracking the most important key performance indicators (KPIs).
You can then structure data efficiently into timely insights to make strategic decisions.
A brilliant strategy can put you on the competitive map, but only solid execution can keep you there. You have to be able to deliver on your intent.
The secret to successful strategy execution is superpowers: a team that helps you get more done while you sleep.
As the marketing leader, you’re the face organization, the brand storyteller, the innovation catalyst, and the implementer of customer-driven growth. You are focused on operational efficiencies with an analytic mindset while creatively conceptualizing how to meet unmet needs in the marketplace and drive the next iteration of growth.
You cannot do it all.
Delegate operational responsibility, so you can focus on more strategic issues.
Make sure everyone has a good idea of the decisions and actions for which they are responsible. Provide information, structure, and motivators. Link performance to rewards.
Work with Reactionpower to do less work and get more done. We match busy business leaders like you with highly efficient professionals who have the skills to keep up with your demands and accelerate your growth.
Leaders thrive when the proper support and resources have been invested to maximize productivity.
Align with the CEO or executive leadership suite on the success metrics and the support available to achieve your mutual vision. Ensure you are resourced appropriately for the anticipated outcomes. The range of job duties and skills required of marketing leaders can be all over the map. Therefore, if not discussed, the expectations can be unclear or unrealistic. This unhealthy dynamic can set marketing executives up to fail.
Assess areas where you can get quick wins.
At Reactionpower, our goal is to help you get more done. We’ll help you crush milestones and show momentum to garner more organizational support. We serve as an extension of your team. You work with the same dedicated people so even complex, ongoing tasks are handled with quality and consistency.
Stop doing manual, operational tasks that drain your energy. Our highly technical skilled workforce enables your team to delegate so you can focus on growth and create success.
Good communication is essential to strong relationships.
Communication is the glue that holds together relationships, families, and friendships. Also at work, communication is one of the most important skills. It’s often the difference between a project succeeding or failing – or even a business floundering or thriving.
Yet most of us are poor communicators and we don’t even realize it. We’re either too afraid to speak our minds or say things callously under the guise of good intention. We’ve been taught to think that as long as you mean well, that’s all that matters. When you think this way, you’re no longer communicating.
I’ve learned the hard way that when the stakes are high, the consequences of poor communication can be devastating and by the time you realize it, it can be too late.
So how do you do communication damage control before problems reach the crisis stage? Better yet how can you thrive personally and professionally by building the relationships you want?
First, create an environment that puts you in your best mental state and find ways to do what fulfills you. When you are feeling excited and alive, we’re able to respond more effectively to whatever comes our way… and that includes stressful communication situations in both our work and personal lives.
Second, change your mind… or consider the possibility that there is another perspective that you just don’t understand yet. Be flexible, listen with an open mind, and seek to understand. Of course, that’s easier said and done when the person you are communicating with has your blood boiling, but try to focus on the issue, not the person. Avoid getting distracted by emotional noise. We often react emotionally to certain words or ideas due to our past experiences. Sometimes we get distracted by our bias about the speaker’s appearance, gestures, etc. Make a conscious effort to quiet your emotional reactions so that you can truly listen.
Third, value yourself and your own experiences, even as you recognize they could be barriers to accurate perception. This requires a two-prong approach – You need to be firm about your own rights and needs, even as you work on analyzing and expanding your awareness. Never undervalue yourself. Offer your ideas and expect to be treated well.
You can be successful through how you communicate every day.
The opposite is also true. What you say or don’t say matters.
Here’s one more bonus tip.
If you want to be an effective communicator, active listening is just as important as being able to get your point across. Watch the behavior of the person you are speaking to.
Are they frequently interrupting, repeating points, or zoning out during conversations? You’ve likely got poor listening skills. ? Here are 5 key active listening tips that will change your relationships and transform your life.
What are your tips for better communication?
Conflict is inevitable.
No matter how hard we try to avoid it, we all become entangled by conflict in our personal and professional lives.
In the workplace, clashes with coworkers might erupt because of disagreement on strategy, interpersonal friction, mishandled responsibilities, etc.
Even with family and friends, conflicts will arise from time to time. It doesn’t matter how different or similar we think we are.
Typical reactions to conflict include ignoring it, complaining to others, and reacting without thinking. I’ve learned firsthand that none of these produce effective results.
Instead, we want to master the practice of feeling and finding CALM.
So, how can we do that when caught in the heated emotions of conflict?
First, we want to become aware that we’ve been provoked. Instead of lashing out reactively, we want to pause long enough to notice how we feel and have the willingness to experience it. If we ignore or suppress the feeling, it will intensify. What we resist persists.
In that moment of pause, we can turn our attention to our breath, and take a few soothing inhales and exhales. This will help re-establish a feeling of clarity.
We can acknowledge the feeling of hurt then recognize that we are the creators of our emotions and choose to respond with purpose versus reacting out of fear. Choosing to take responsibility puts us at the affect of our lives rather than at the effect of our circumstances.
With our breath, we have a moment to restore psychological calm. Instead of feeding into intense emotions and escalating the situation, we’re able to think, listen, and handle things with a level head.
Now we’re ready to take a CALM approach:
When we sincerely listen before weighing in, we extend respect to the other side. This helps dissolve heated emotions. We create an opportunity for dialogue, where everyone involved can calmly share how they feel, ask questions of each other, and find a resolution. Everyone wins when conflicts are resolved conflicts in a cooperative and respectful manner.
When we face conflict mindfully, periodic scrapes don’t descend into chronic wounds. So do your best to approach discord with mindful awareness. Mastering the practice of feeling and finding calm offers a chance for anger to soften, clarity to surface, and resolutions to emerge.
What are the characteristics of a good leader? It’s an age-old question and everyone has an answer.
Most people say good leaders have some core characteristics like influence, courage, vision, empathy, the ability to delegate, strong communication skills, self-awareness, learning agility, gratitude, respect, and more.
While these characteristics matter, leadership is less about the individual and more about a group of people working together to achieve results.
In my opinion, leadership is a social process.
Great leadership boils down to mastery over relationships.
These 3 leadership skills lead to successful outcomes:
Leaders shape our nations, communities, and organizations.
Now more than ever, we need good leaders to help guide us and make the essential decisions that keep the world moving.
Leadership is one of the most important aspects of any endeavor, from our family and community to business and beyond.
How do YOU measure a great leader, and what are you doing to become one?
Right now marketing calls for relevance, empathy, performance, productivity, focus, resilience, and so many skills.
What is the most valuable skill you can have in these times of great uncertainty? I believe it’s LEADERSHIP. As a leader, there’s a part of you that’s strong, regardless of what’s happening around you.
Where there is a challenge there is also opportunity.
Tough times call for that part of you that’s hungry, tuned-in, courageous, bold, brilliant…
As we figure out how to navigate a state of no-new-normal, we are required to call on that can-do part of us that drives a vision with creativity and massive action. Our teams are experiencing a constant barrage of negative news. As leaders, we must stand guard at the door of our minds while recognizing the emotional upheaval our teams are likely experiencing. The onslaught of fear and lack of physical proximity increases the possibility of people feeling disconnected, disengaged, and potentially less productive.
Here are 5 tips to help you harness your power and inspire your team.
The path may change but the mission can still hold.
Your mission gives you purpose, meaning, and sometimes happiness ?. This is what makes you live beyond a successful moment to a significant life. What do you want from life? When you prioritize, adjust, and adapt without compromising your commitment to your mission, you will achieve your goals.
Once you are clear on your mission, organize your tasks, and make every item on your to-do list express that vision. If an item does not align with your purpose, drop it. This will also keep your team clear and focused.
Having a virtual team does not mean that you have to constantly breathe down everyone’s necks to make sure that they are working. Provide clear goals and trust your team members to accomplish those goals.
While you give your team autonomy, you never lose sight of accountability. Provide work goals, and ensure they are met. Don’t let projects drag on and on. If workers know that goals and deadlines are enforced, they feel more involved in the team.
I’ve found that one-on-ones are one of the best ways to build rapport and create a culture of trust. Unlike status reports, standups, and other types of meetings, one-on-ones create dedicated space for a manager to connect, give, and get personalized feedback.
A Gallup Poll found that those who were able to spend 60% to 80% of their time away from the office had the highest rates of engagement. Another extensive global study reported in Harvard Business Review reported that virtual teams can lead to increased efficiency and better business results.
Set Yourselves Up For Daily Conversations
Team chat allows for rapid real-time communication to get work done and gives virtual teams a very strong sense of being “present” as a team. This goes a great way to keep everyone feeling involved and motivated.
For high context conversations, chat can be too cumbersome. In these cases, hop on a quick audio/video conversation. There are scores of tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Fleep, uShare.to, Zoom etc. that virtual teams can select from. You can even use your phone as a webcam to video chat with your cross-functional partners, colleagues, teams, and direct reports, so you don’t miss any conversations that affect your projects.
Organize Your Team’s Effort With Collaboration Tools
Beyond communication, there is a range of collaboration tools that can help organize your team’s effort and keep them productive. Use group calendars to coordinate schedules and events, project management tools to coordinate team tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines, and document management to share important presentations, templates, and policies. You could explore Box for document management, Calendly for scheduling, etc. Tools like HyperOffice Atlas, Office 365 for Business, and GSuite offer all-in-one team toolkits. Organization in the daily execution of your business eliminates stress and frees your mind to focus on projects.
Leverage Video for Team Building
Video reinforces the human bonds between your team members. Skip the default to audio conferencing and make it a point to turn on video as a reminder that there are real people, with smiles, a myriad of emotions, and maybe tousled hair behind the voice.
Set serious work-life boundaries to avoid burnout. Remember your health is highly crucial and should be first on your list of priorities. It determines your prosperity, comfort, and overall attitude. Eat a balanced diet, develop a solid exercise routine, and don’t skip sleep.
Your interactions with your team shouldn’t always be about work, work, work. Without the warmth of human presence, team interactions can sometimes become dry exchanges. Never miss an opportunity to encourage your team to just have normal social interactions. Take a few minutes at the beginning of a call to make small talk and just chit chat about life in general. Share a funny video now and then in a work chat room. Many teams have a dedicated chat room for “cooler chatter”, where teams talk about everything but work. And this fun banter can fuel creativity!
These are crazy times… but it’s time to turn the corner. It’s time to write our comeback story and transform our collective struggles into massive success.
It all starts with our hearts and minds!
83% of employees feel they do not need an office to be productive, according to the Fuze Global Report on Workforce Future.
Knowing how to motivate virtual team members is now an essential skill for team leaders.
Let’s dive into the art and science of motivating yourself AND others.
Most people think about motivation in terms of incentives, competition, compliments, financial rewards, etc.
What do you think is the biggest motivator of all? Progress!
In his best-selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink pulls apart four decades of scientific research on human motivation. His research shows that financial incentives are poor motivators for success.
Pink argues that there’s a deep human need to direct our own lives, to learn, and to create new things. This is the secret to high performance and satisfaction.
According to Pink, we need to harness the power of small wins by being heroes of progress.
Whether you are talking to your colleague, your spouse, or trying to motivate yourself, highlight progress. Here’s how:
Our thoughts are secret—and that’s often a good thing.
We are far more brutal in our minds than in reality.
The problem is the brain believes what you tell it most.
How do you talk to yourself? Are you kind, mean, harsh, or sweet? Ask yourself, would you talk to your best friend that way?
Our self-truths are the beliefs we hold, whether they are true or not.
Sometimes, we learn our self-truths from life experiences. Other times, we pick them up from those around us, our parents, bosses, teachers, etc. These become our limiting beliefs.
Here are some common negative self-truths people say all the time:
If you are warming up your mind with these kinds of thoughts, there’s no way you can be your best self.
Watch out for your limiting beliefs and limiting wishes.
For example, one woman told me that the reason she can’t make friends is because of her horrible nose. “I look like a toucan,” she said. “When I’m talking to people, I know all they are thinking about is my nose. As soon as I get it fixed, it will be so much easier to meet people.”
Let me ask you a question. Have you EVER not been able to talk to someone because you didn’t like their nose? Absolutely not. Her limiting wish was, “If only my nose was smaller, I would be able to make friends.”
She helped me realize that my own limiting wish was: If only I was thinner
Here are some more common limiting wishes:
Are your desires holding you hostage?
Bottom Line: Stop thinking you need to change something before you can achieve your desired outcome!
In order to motivate others, you need to know how to motivate yourself first.
We are inspired by highly productive, efficient people.
Here are some of the most common bad habits that hurt our motivation:
Any of these look familiar?
In his book What to Say When You Talk to Your Self, Dr. Shad Helmstetter states that we are programmed by our thoughts. He breaks down being able to change your self-talk into five levels:
Level 1: Negative Acceptance
“I can’t _____ .”
The fill-in-the-blank with your limiting beliefs and wishes. These are the current negative ideas you’ve accepted about yourself.
Level 2: Recognition and Need to Change
“I need to …”
“I should …”
Here you’ve achieved a level of awareness.
Level 3: Decision to Change
“I no longer …”
Here you’ve decided to change some of your limiting beliefs.
Level 4: The Better You
“I am …”
Once you have retired a limiting belief or changed it, you then have a new self-vision and concept.
Level 5: Universal Affirmation
“It is …”
Finally, you see the world differently. You have changed your own belief and the world around you.
What level are you at?
If you’re not at Level 5, commit to change.
You have a choice. You can live on autopilot or you can live intentionally. If you want to thrive remotely, choose the latter.
Do you have rituals and routines, to get psyched up for something big… like a meeting, a date, or an event?
Your life is bigger. Create the right habits to motivate yourself.
Here are a few ideas:
Love the affirmation that Jennifer Lopez shared in her interview with Oprah (at 39.41 mark):
What’s your daily affirmation? If you don’t have one, commit to thrive and create one today!
The world has been turned upside down. The ability to adapt is a matter of life or death for many businesses, because even when we are past the chaos, things won’t likely be the same again. For most businesses to survive the storm, they need a new game plan.
Survival depends on adaption. As Mike Tyson famously quipped, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The sooner we figure that out, the sooner we can get up off the mat and start fighting back.
The world has punched us in the mouth. For some businesses, it may be a knockout punch. But it doesn’t have to be. Take a page out of the Silicon Valley playbook… The pivot.
Remember that you exist to solve problems for your customers. And just because their problems have changed doesn’t mean you can’t still solve them. You just need to think of new, innovative ways to do so.
Read on for 5 things you can do right now to pivot your business and survive this pandemic.
For some businesses, survival will require offering more than you ever have before.
Take the fancy restaurant down the street (we’ve all got one). With their dining room closed for the foreseeable future, their go-to solution is likely to offer takeout and delivery, keeping their fingers crossed that things will go back to normal soon. Sure, by offering takeout and delivery, they can continue to serve delicious food to hungry people, but their average order value is taking a huge hit. No in-person dining means no alcohol sales, no appetizer and dessert up-sells, and of course, no tips for their staff.
So, what can a business like this do to overcome these unexpected challenges? Offer more. To survive an extended hit to their traditional business model, they need to think of ways to offer more to their customers, driving average order values back up to what they were when guests dined in-person.
The restaurant could offer a White Glove Date Night Service. Partnering with other local shops, they could put together a special bundle that includes a full takeout meal, a bottle of wine, a white tablecloth, homemade candles, an invite-only romantic Spotify playlist curated by the restaurant’s Hostess, a list of staff favorite romance movies streaming on Netflix, etc.
Now this restaurant’s takeout meal has turned into an experience. Something to look forward to. Something to keep the romance alive during the quarantine. And something that goes from a $35 takeout bill to a $99 package that local couples will happily pay in order to bring some happiness and excitement into their homes.
All this, just by offering a little bit more.
Of course, sometimes less is more.
For some businesses, the best way to survive these troubled times is pare-down their product or service, and focus exclusively on the customer segments that drive the most profit.
Take a typical SaaS company that offers both entry-level and enterprise-level versions of its product. Sure, when times were good, it made sense to staff up and serve both of these segments. But now? Probably not.
A company like this would need to take a long, hard look at which of the two segments drives more to the bottom line, and is most likely to continue growing (or at least maintain) during the impending recession. Based on what they discover, the business will have a game plan as to which segment (and corresponding product features) become the priority, and where they can offer less.
Now, that’s not to say that they need to (or should) fire a bunch of customers from the less valuable segment. It just means that they should reevaluate the time and money invested in areas such as product development, marketing, and customer service related to this segment. This group doesn’t need a whole bunch of extra features right now, nor can you afford to develop them. Now is the time to focus, and the best way to do that is to offer less.
Though it’s easy to forget, the core reason businesses exist is to solve problems for their customers. But what happens when the problem you solve is no longer relevant?
Take Airbnb for example. With people not traveling, their customers no longer have the problem of finding unique, comfortable lodging while away from home. But many of their customers have a new problem: a desperate need for a quiet space to work remotely.
So, what should Airbnb do? Pivot, of course (at least temporarily)!
The company could adjust their platform so that hosts can offer reduced “daytime-only” rates to rent out their home office/bedroom with a desk (one that’s deep cleaned nightly). Customers with a less than ideal work-from-home situation would now have the option to head down the street to an empty, quiet Airbnb listing to work for the day. And hosts would have an opportunity to still bring in some much-needed revenue.
Same business. Same product. Different customer problems solved. Not necessarily quarantine approved.
When there’s an overnight shift in the global economy, it’s not uncommon for businesses to see a shift in their target markets as well. Your core customer base might disappear overnight. But, there may be one waiting in the wings…a market you previous would have never expected to serve.
And for those businesses paying attention and acting swiftly, this spells opportunity…not only to stay afloat during the crisis but to perhaps emerge stronger than ever.
For example, take Instacart. This on-demand delivery service has traditionally focused its efforts on acquiring urban-dwelling Gen Z’ers and Millennials. These groups are early tech adopters and heavy eCommerce shoppers, making them ideal candidates for the service. But with nearly everyone forced to stay home, millions of Baby Boomers across the U.S. are suddenly signing up for Instacart. What a huge opportunity for the company! Baby Boomers comprise a massive share of the nation’s buying power but have traditionally shunned online retail in favor of shopping in physical locations. As Baby Boomers are forced to adopt the service en masse, this might be a turning point for the entire generation. And for Instacart, a chance to redefine their market. Hopefully, the company is already strategizing as to how they can retain this valuable customer segment once the pandemic subsides. Because if they can keep the Boomers coming back long term, they will unlock a massive opportunity to grow.
For some entrepreneurs, the changes brought on by coronavirus will prompt a necessary change in their business model. Are you doing large corporate events? Think about the long-term outlook of the previous business model. Not a great place to be… Customers may no longer be willing to put the same amount of time and dollars when things go back to “normal” but they may be open to smaller events with an extended online experience that integrates opportunities for serendipitous connections.
So, what can you do? Don’t hanker down and wait for this to pass. Test a new model. Today!
Explore ways you can help customers create meaningful connections that go beyond video meetings on Zoom. What you learn may pay off in passionate, loyal customers that stay with you into well into the future.
While it may be stressful to have change forced upon you, the ultimate expansion can be a positive outcome from an otherwise terrible situation.
A Powerful Poem by Best Selling Author Robert Michael Fried
Some things hazy
Soon will be right
Some things hidden
will come into sight
Some things so wrong
will soon become clear
As we gallantly strive
towards a life without fear
Fortune 500 marketing strategist and best-selling author Robert Michael Fried has spent most of his career directing or repositioning marketing and sales strategies for blue-chip companies. He strikes a refreshing balance between making money and making meaning in his best seller, Igniting Your True Purpose and Passion: A Businesslike Guide to Fulfill Your Professional Goals and Personal Dreams.
The book is acclaimed by Guy Kawasaki, best-selling author and former chief evangelist of Apple, Cynthia Kersey, best-selling author of Unstoppable, and Marci Shimoff, best known for co-authoring 6 Chicken Soup For The Soul Books, and her prominent role in the documentary video The Secret.
Fried’s New York Times critically acclaimed book A Marketing Plan for Life soared to #1 on the Amazon Best Seller List in three categories: Success, Self-Help, and Personal Transformation.