Through this pandemic, we see businesses who are keeping things going, those who are seriously struggling, and those who are actually doing quite well.
Some of this is luck. Those who are part of a business that provides an essential service, have likely been allowed to remain open and they’ve kept their customers — or even gained new ones. Those who have been able to cater to new demands (such as DIY home repair or products and services for the new set of people working from home) may be doing an outstanding business.
If you’re in the restaurant industry, you’ve had to reinvent your offering to offer takeout and outdoor dining options. And if you’re in an industry that’s dependent on tourism, you may have had no choice but to wait it out and hope you’re able to generate business before you run out of emergency funds. If you sell high end clothing for business or formal events, you may not have a business any longer.
If you’re managing an association, you could theoretically fit in any of those buckets. We can’t magically change the state of the world today to destroy the virus and bring back the world as we knew it at the start of the year. But there is one thing we can change to be more successful: our mindset.
Here are a few thoughts about how a different mindset could help your organization:
Limited resources vs. abundancy. If you take the position that resources are fixed and they are few and far between, this is the limiting message you’ll convey to your members. However, if you find a way to help your members find abundancy, you’ve now created a much more compelling value proposition. At a minimum, they’ll have to stop and ask what you mean and how it might impact them.
It’s not about stopping; it’s about reinvention. Yes, you’ve had to stop in-person programs and events. But this is the time you can reinvent what you offer to your members.
Virtual events give you the ability to include people who wouldn’t have been able to attend in person and to bring in speakers that might not have been available as well. You can likely do these at a much lower cost.
It’s time to look out, not climb into your shell. Rather than retrench, how can you reach out to new members who may need your services more than ever?
What can you do to welcome them into the fold and show them the value you provide? What kind of new offerings can you offer existing members to help them through this uncertain time?
It’s time to prepare for success. While the world will likely be different than it was before COVID-19, there will be opportunities for success in the future — even among groups that are sidelines for now.
Those who prepare now will be first out of the gate and may have an unbeatable advantage vs. their competition. Help your members take the steps necessary now to be ready for what’s next.
We’ve traditionally heard that there are two points of view: The glass is half-full or the glass is half-empty. But here’s a third option: What if there is no glass at all? What could we accomplish if we had no restraints? What could we accomplish if we just set our mind to it?
