I was watching a very beautiful sunset reflecting off the water last night.
The water was so still, the images of the trees and their reflections in the water blended seamlessly together. It was hard to see the actual shoreline in the distance.
I asked myself, will I ever be here again?
It’s a question I have trained myself to ask. It helps me keep a perspective on life.
The answer is, of course, no. I am not referring to actually never visiting this shoreline again, of course life has no guarantees and this could, in fact, be my last visit there.
Regardless of whether or not I return to this shoreline, I will never be here again. This time, this space, and this moment is never something I can return to.
The shoreline example works with our business too. We will never be at this moment in our business life ever again.
We thought the pandemic would be behind us with vaccinations. That didn’t happen as we imagined and we are in for the long haul.
We will never be here again, but the reality is that our business landscape has changed forever in numerous ways. People have changed in very fundamental ways. For instance, people have fears and uncertainties very different than two years ago, We need to pay attention.
How do we know what these fears and uncertainties are?
The best way is to ask them and listen to their responses. This requires a conversation where we really listen to what they are saying.
“How are you doing'” is a great start. Then probe a little deeper, and even deeper if you can without making them too uncomfortable. As you get to the third or fourth thing they say, you are getting closer to what is really on their mind.
Why is this important? Because you must enter the conversation going on in their head with your marketing. Only then will they truly be comfortable with you.
Make no mistake, there are big and profound changes going on.
Try it out today. Listen to what they say and probe a little deeper for the real answers.
