Are You The Come-Back Kid?

When I Googled Comeback Kid, I discovered that 40 years ago there was a movie staring Jon Ritter from the TV show Three’s Company and Susan Dey from the Partridge Family.  It was not what I was looking for.

The Comeback Kid is a label that is simply used to refer to someone who has overcome a pretty big obstacle.  Nearly everyone of us are in that situation right now. The obstacle part at least with the Covid-19 pandemic shutting down businesses or at least changing the way they operate. This summer is the beginning of the comeback.

For 2 or 3 months most of us have changed our routines and habits. My family has gotten used to doing our grocery shopping online and then pulling into the parking lot, popping open the trunk and driving home with a week or two’s worth of food.  We’ve gone from self scan checkouts and bagging our stuff to not having to touch it until we haul the bags from our cars and restock the frig.  Sure there are plenty of people who still shop in-person the way all of us did before the pandemic, but this new shopping experience has been a game changer.

And it’s not just food, but other stuff I have bought, the shopping experience is different.  I bought a new phone online and it was delivered to my home the next day.  Needed a cover for the phone so I placed my order online and they had curbside pick-up available for me in less than an hour.

Some of my advertising partners that have retail locations offered contact less shopping services and will continue to offer that along with the traditional shopping experiences.

So my friends, what is it going to take to make sure your business is a “comeback kid”?

You should have in place a way to accommodate both your customers and your employees.  This includes many of the ideas that have been offered during the shut-down such as remote working options.  One of my co-workers has become the Queen of Zoom.  She has become extremely productive because instead of driving back and forth to a 10am meeting with a potential client, she works from her home office.  Those meetings are also more focused she says and I’ve seen the results that she has had.  Are you offering some similar flexibility for your team if possible?

I urge you to do some bottom-up brainstorming, not just top-down rule setting.  Get the input of those people doing the work on how they can do their jobs better than before.

For the rest of 2020 and perhaps beyond, you cannot return to “business as usual” without losing some of your regular customers. I know there are people who think all the social distancing and wearing of masks is hogwash and others who will not set foot into your place unless they see that others are practicing safe shopping.  A friend of mine has taken a leave of absence from her coffee shop job because she also cares for an elderly family member and does not want to accidentally be a carrier of the virus.

Not everyone is going to have a comeback.  Some companies were on shaky ground before the shutdown and they will stay closed unless they reinvent themselves.

Actually reinventing yourself is one of the keys to becoming a successful comeback kid.

And it requires more than luck.  It takes wisdom, guidance and planning.

You also need to make sure your past, current and future potential customers are aware of your business and why they should spend their money with you.  That’s where I come in.  Wisdom, guidance and planning of your advertising and marketing is not something you want to turn over to just anyone.  Consider this an invitation to connect with me and my team will help you become the comeback kid everyone is talking about.  Who knows, they might make a movie about it one day.

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