One of the secrets J. Willard Marriott cited to his success as a CEO and leader was his commitment not to perform any task that someone else in the organization could do. His ability to effectively delegate freed up his time to create one of the world’s most successful corporations.
One of the many challenges of responding to COVID-19 has been keeping team members, customers, subcontractors and others upbeat when there are few answers and an apparent no end to the challenges created by the global pandemic. On top of numerous uncertainties, we seem to be living in a time of toxicity. Just look at the recent presidential election and other political campaigns.
One of the biggest complaints about wearing masks is that it hinders communication. From a young age, we learn the importance of nonverbal communication. The mouth is the best region for showing emotions. There are 19 different types of smiles, for example. Smiles can reflect happiness, fear, embarrassment and pain, among other emotions. So, how do we communicate those emotions while wearing face masks, and how can we translate this to business interactions?
COVID-19 has accelerated consumer behavior changes that few could imagine or predict prior to the onset of the global pandemic. Online purchases that were growing at an average of 1% a year before COVID-19 increased 15% in three months and are likely not to retreat anytime shortly. 75% of U.S. consumers have tried a new store, brand or different way of purchasing during the pandemic reports McKinsey & Company and the Yale Center for Customer Insights
Whoda thunk it nine months ago that 42% of Americans would be working from home, which is not likely to change in the near term. The kitchen and bath showroom industry certainly has adapted. Virtual initial meetings are now par for the course for many BKBG Shareholders. Initial and other virtual meetings help to save time, improve efficiency and eliminate tire kickers.
Abraham Maslov developed a hierarchy of human needs. At the base are the need for basic necessities such as food, shelter and security. Those need to be satisfied before moving on to other human needs, such as relationships and self-actualization.
Marketing expert Mark Schaefer recently used Maslov’s hierarchy to help businesses best employ content.
American workers have begun a love-hate relationship with email. Communicating by email can enhance communications by quickly disseminating information and providing fast response to inquiries. It can also allow for quicker problem-solving and more streamlined business processes. That said, we've become so conditioned to the immediacy that the lack of a response can drain productivity and increase stress.
It seems daily that our sense of control continues to wane. There is no doubt that COVID-19 is having a lasting effect on just about everything – how we work, communicate, travel, purchase, relax, eat and live. We don't have a choice but to deal with the new abnormal, and we are not sure when or if the old normal will return.
Annually, the National Kitchen & Bath Association publishes an industry outlook. Like most everything else that has occurred in 2020, the optimistic prediction at the start of the year took a dramatic about-face when stay-at-home orders were issued in the middle of March. Recently, NKBA has updated its outlook to account for the impact of COVID-19. The updated study found the following according to a recent article in Kitchen & Bath Business.
There is no doubt that COVID-19 has already changed how consumers act and behave, and that requires showrooms to evaluate how they will connect with customers and prospects moving forward. COVID-19 has impacted how consumers obtain information and how and why they purchase.
