Leading or Losing

Leading or Losing

March 19th, 2020 // 1:45 pm @

Leading or Losing

Right now you have a choice.  To throw your hands up and be helpless or to do something meaningful and proactive.  It is supposed to be that the worst of times bring out the best in people.  Put your creative minds to work and you can figure this out.

I have seen fine dining restaurants offer personal delivery service of their full menu.  I have seen places sell their fresh foods for you to cook them at home.  I’ve seen people come out with creative activities and virtual classrooms to do with your kids.

One of my most amazing Doctors (who has one of the largest private practices in the country) had his state decide he should stop doing hygiene.  To most it’s a small portion of their income, to him his practice makes more from hygiene than most doctors make from their entire practice.  Yet he chooses to do something.

He brilliantly has his team call every patient over 65 and check in with them.  Tell them they are thinking about them, that they care, and they want them to stay healthy.  The patient is so grateful and appreciative.

Then they just ask them a simple question: is there any dental concerns that you have right now, if there is, they offer to take care of them.

They admit that they aren’t that busy and it’s a great time for you to come in.  They aren’t looking for the work, they care about their patients, however this is absolutely the best time for the elderly to do dentistry because it is safe.

The real travesty is anyone is sitting around acting helpless and giving in.  People who do that don’t deserve to be a business owner and don’t deserve their customers’ loyalty anyways.

Anyone can pretend when times are great and everything is in abundance.  Your true grit is revealed when the harvest is slim.

Right now, stores are creating hours specifically for people who are more susceptible to the virus.  They are serving them in a concierge way and truly doing a great service for their community (while also at the very least working to keep some people employed and cover their overhead).

For my doctors, even by the extreme term of “emergency” there isn’t a doctor in the country that can’t find one emergency patient a day to do dentistry on.  It is the difference between losing it all or losing a little but keeping things afloat.

Let’s say you can’t “open” at all, let’s say you can’t earn a single dollar – does that mean you no responsibility to your customers?  Does that mean you can’t help those who depend on you?  You certainly have time on your hands so find a way to be of service to those who count on you.

The bottom line is: your customers, regardless of industry, need you now more than ever.  Be a leader to them.

You are either Leading them or Losing them.

That’s the deal when the going gets tough.  This is what separates the winners from the wannabes.

It is hard for everyone – that doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end and it sure doesn’t mean that there is nothing to be done.  You don’t have to divert to a scarcity and a survival mentality.  You can use this to work on yourself, your team, and your customers.

While pragmatic thinking is crucial, you have to do something with it.  What I hate most is people who feel sorry for themselves.  They complain about their circumstances but they aren’t doing anything about it.

Is your business really so unstable that a few weeks destroys your momentum, shatters the foundation, and cripples everything that you have built?  Or is that just how you feel?

You will bounce back fast, you will rebound, you will emerge stronger than before.

Your business will not fail you if you do not fail it.  Your customers will not desert you if you do not desert them.

You have to stand strong, get tough, double down, stick together, and work creatively to get through this.

And most of all: DO NOT GIVE UP in your thinking.  Your mindset matters right now more than it ever has before.  Do not relinquish your belief in prosperity, in success, in yourself.

Consider all the things that you never have time to do, all of the business development that is possible.  Think about if you were to use this time to prepare for the moment when you can hit the gas, go full throttle, and get back to business as usual.

Maybe “the usual” wasn’t so great anyways.  Maybe you were just getting by going through the motions because you could, because it was easy.

Maybe now is the biggest wake up call of them all.  Maybe now you will build a durable, sustainable business that is better than ever before because you have seen your weak points and you have been humbled by how fragile it can be.

The dream of every business owner is to have more time to go to work on their craft, to hone in on their systems, to dedicate time to perfect the things that aren’t as good as you wish they were, to prepare for growth that is yet to come.

The circumstances aren’t great but they are what they are.  Instead of dwelling on the present, let’s band together and prepare to recover from this now – and not wait until it’s over.

Next week, I will share with you some more interesting examples of people taking action and making things happen.  Until then… I hope you are your own example!

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