It's been a CoVid kind of year

I first heard of this little virus causing issues in China in late Dec, listened keenly to the news in Jan and when off on a mini break in Feb - started to think - "gee this could affect us?  Perhaps I need to make some changes." Understatement of 2020!

I called it early - way before lock down  - face to face appointments were stopped - Zoom online meetings became our new friend. Some people thought we were over reacting but my gut told me this was not a mere blip on the radar - this was going to be a huge thing. Little did I really know....

Soon - over night staff are being segregated, deployed to different offices, working from home - many a computer screen, scanner and printer was hoisted into the back seat of the Fiat 500 and zoomed off to another location. 

The phones were diverted and new message services engaged and deployed. Security protocols and access re written overnight and an existing CLOUD based operation was operational in multi sites. Exhausting infrastructure changes and checking staff welfare became the new normal. 

Then the work from home mandate hit - schools sent children home and the words 'family friendly' office took on a whole new meaning. 

In the mean time I felt like a tennis player - batting balls back over the net every which way  - never feeling that my serve was 'in' or I could manage that sneaky drop shot - life was one big rally. 

I was crabby, exhausted, didn't exercise for days, constantly at my computer  and up all night learning Job keeper - devising workflows and forms to manage the onslaught of work from financially stressed businesses needing our help.

So enough about the pain - I think you get the picture and many of you had similar challenges in your business - what did we learn and how will we move forward ?

For an existing online cloud based business - we needed to ramp it up  - we already had some of these cool tools but they were under utilised and over night we baked them into our business DNA 

Online Payment Gateways 

We needed to ensure cash coming in the door to keep ourselves afloat  - we already used an online link on our invoices where you can pay by credit card - but we deployed better use of another system we had where clients could pay in instalments, up front on acceptance of new services and also direct debit not just credit card. Rethinking how you get paid is crucial in tough times 

Zoom - client meetings could be booked on line - we found this a better experience from a teaching point of view as screen shots and recordings were better utilised than notes and clients could 'drive' while we took control of the wheel only when the car was veering out of it's lane. From a time perspective - clients and KRS were on time and laser focussed using Zoom. As many schools and other community groups were using Zoom too - we found the client learning was quick and uptake was great.

Online bookings  - we already used Calendly for online appointments but enhanced it's use in ensuring clients could select a time that suited them and what problem they were dealing with. We were able to curate the appointment types to better cater for clients needs. 

Phone answering service - Virtual Reception - borne out of sheer necessity given the multi temporary office situation. To be honest I had shied away from these sorts of services due to cost and fears of it being not seen as a personal touch - nothing could be further from the truth. Accurate messages taken with complete details - saved in an email format has meant we are quicker to respond to client queries and document actions taken . I can also send messages to team to share the load. 

Delete - Defer - Delegate - more so than ever, we had to stop doing the things that were no longer crucial (delete), re organise our work priorities (defer) and pull as a team (delegate). Some clients moved on - we just were not the right fit for them and that was ok. They had to prioritise what was good for them. Equally we had to make tough decisions - every day I asked myself "Is this what I need to be doing right now?"

It's a work in progress that's for sure. It will evolve but basically we will not move back to the office in the traditional format. 

Bookings and meetings will continue to be online and we will treat the office as a service office environment. 

Open for appointments when we book them. 

We are ready to rip into 2021 as 2020 was a year we would rather forget but as our clients we hope you have time to reflect on your challenges, embrace your mistakes and celebrate your growth in your business mindset.