In partnership with the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Small Business Council, Independent Bank is proud to have sponsored the first digital Lunch in the Know featuring Marshall Martin with PETRA.  His presentation “Taking Your Business From Defense to Offense in Times of Disruption” was full of actionable items and ideas for every business across all industries.  As always, we have put together our Top Takeaways:


Your Best Defense is a Good Offense

Roll up your sleeves and get to work on an honest SWOT analysis – identifying your strengths and weakness – just over the last 60-90 days - and what are the resulting threats and opportunities.  Start thinking about how you mitigate or capitalize on these.  PETRA offers free worksheets for both a Short Term SWOT Analysis and an Adaptive Crisis Checklist.  Proactively using these worksheets to get your house in order will prepare you for the next steps.


Communication is King

Now it’s time to stabilize.  You might have a workforce in disarray; you certainly have customers who are.  Executives must stay in front of employees, even daily, to communicate any pertinent updates/changes related to COVID-19 and to share good news to keep up morale.  Marshall suggests that during this time of isolation, building relationships is more important than ever.  Call up your customers and check in on them; really try to connect on a deeper level.  Marshall references an idea known as F.O.R.D. from the book The Relationship Economy, written by John R. DiJulius.  F.O.R.D. stands for Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Dreams.  Base your conversations on these four pillars and how they are affected by COVID-19 – except for dreams, let’s let our dreams still be fun!  You might find that out of these conversations comes the next great idea for how you and your company can become even more valuable to your clients.


Time for a Tune Up

Okay – you’re stable, and you’ve caught your breath.  It’s time to gear up before you go all out on your offense.  This is the time you WILL uncover what’s next.  Marshall outlines 4 easy steps to take: 

  • All executives and managers should have a 4-question conversation with at least one customer per day and ask the following questions:

          “How are you doing?”
          “What’s going on in your industry?”
          Answer the questions “How are we doing?”
          “How can we be most helpful right now?”

  • Report the results of these conversations back to the executive team on a daily basis.

  • Have a task force at the ready to identify opportunities and create solutions to customer problems.

  • If necessary, close the loop with your customer.

There’s no denying that during this process you will uncover your customers’ pain points.  The question is, what are you going to do about it?  How will you change to meet your customers' needs and stay relevant?


Go Get ‘Em!

You’ve faced the tough facts.  You’ve surveyed your employees and your clients.  You’ve done the soul-searching.  You’re ready.  Put your new ideas into an action plan.  Who are your new customers?  Where do you find them?  What will you offer them?

But wait, we’re all still in isolation and we don’t know when it will end!  Yes, well as John C. Maxwell said, “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”  Assuming you are opting for growth, you can start to pivot now.  Marshall advises you to create your top 25 dream client list and use LinkedIn to connect with either the CEO or whoever your point of contact is.  They are most likely working from home, so ask to schedule a short video chat.  Just remember that everyone is probably inundated with video chats and conferences these days, so you’ll have to be creative to get them on the line.  And when you do, use the opportunity to connect with that person (remember F.O.R.D.), not to sell them something.

We can’t thank Marshall Martin enough for taking the time to make his presentation.  We’d also like to thank our fellow sponsors Southland Casino Racing and Baptist Memorial Health Care as well as Waddell and Associates for making the Zoom meeting possible. If you missed the webinar or would like to see it again, you can access the recorded version here.