Now that I’m officially a WFH (work from home) Road Warrior – there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one – the last few weeks have truly been a learning experience. At the beginning of my WFH, I was able to take advantage of a lot of stuff that I typically put off until the last minute, like: making, rescheduling, or canceling my travel arrangements; cleaning up my email; and submitting those dreaded expense reports. While I had a full week or more to complete these tasks, I finished in under two days! Isn’t it amazing how the stuff you put off because you think it will take forever, when you really concentrate, is not the black hole of time you thought it would be?
So, what’s next? I do have a lot of longer-term stuff on my plate: research some new revenue ideas, update a few sales and marketing plans to fit the current situation, and update the Manufacturing Technology Sales Fundamentals class to reflect some new technologies to make it more current. I can only spend so much time on a particular project before things get fuzzy and I become nonproductive. One of the things that’s always on my to-do list is to update my member contact information.
As we all know, contact information changes quickly, and it’s tough staying ahead of the changes. Typically, when making these calls, I would leave a voice message because everyone was busy and had no time to chat. Surprisingly, my calls are now answered. I learned quickly that because of all the restrictions, our members have more time to talk on the phone. This has been a great way for me to catch up, learn about their challenges, update any changes to their member data, and see if there is anything AMT can do to help them and their business. It’s truly been a valuable and humbling experience.
Believe it or not, as I was writing this article, Morning Brew, a daily newsletter that I read first thing every morning, posted the following regarding communication: “Before the coronavirus pandemic, phone calls were considered a cultural relic of yesteryear. In other words, we were all that Ozzy Osbourne meme.
“But now, as we lock ourselves in our homes, phone calls are rivaling jigsaw puzzles in terms of unexpected beneficiaries.”
They even had data to back it up: “Verizon said it’s seen an average of 800 million wireless calls daily on recent weekdays, almost 2x the call volume on Mother’s Day, per the WSJ. And AT&T said wireless voice minutes last Monday increased 39% from the average Monday.”
Clearly my experience mirrors what Morning Brew printed. Your customers are available and willing to talk. So, my advice to all you Road Warriors without a road: take advantage of this situation, relate with your customers, listen, make sure your customer information is up-to-date, and help where and when you can.
Stay healthy and be safe.
