Hi Bridget!
Thanks so much for stopping by – it’s an honour to see you here asking away!
What we’ve been that’s making the most difference to businesses during the COVID crisis
We’ve been incredibly reluctant to shout too much during this crisis. I believe that for most people, the last thing they want is another email from another CEO explaining how much they care.
I care, deeply. And I feel so so deeply for the people on the front lines, and for the people in far worst situations than me right now. Heck, my sister is on an NHS ICU ward right now in her PPE helping to keep people alive. When I talk to her, I feel… so removed from the reality of what is going on.
So this has pushed me to re-evaluate how much I can help – I can’t begin to help in the ways that others can. But, can we help in our own small way? Hell yes.
So we have been reaching out to customers that we know are struggling, and working with them – especially those that are less technical, to see if they need help on the tech side.
But primarily, to be blunt the single biggest thing that we have been able to do to help our customers has been offering them discounts and free service to get them through this. We know our platform can help them, and we can’t survive forever by giving GoSquared away for free. But we don’t want customers to worry that their GoSquared bill is another problem. We can remove that from their list of problems.
We firmly believe that it’s the right thing to do for the customers that are struggling, and we know they can make it through this, and we can’t wait to return to normal with them. We’re in it together.
What businesses have been doing that has impressed me
I find it a lot easier to look at the ones that have not impressed me.
It makes me feel physically sick to see how many mainstream brands have jumped on the opportunity to make us feel squishy inside about them, by sharing heartwarming video calls of normal people getting through this, and chucking their brand name at the end of the ad. I’m looking at you, Facebook.
I also admire Google and Apple for the work there doing on contact tracing APIs. I wish it could move faster, and from the outside, it seems their skills in marketing and communication could be better used to tell the world what they’re doing and why.
There are probably many more brands I want to list here, but it’s been a long day and I am struggling to think straight!
Big risks in the next 6-12 months
I think the biggest risk to me is the question of how long this goes on for. I don’t think any of us know, and I don’t think anyone can say until there’s a vaccine widely available.
Everything gets a lot easier for everyone if they have more certainty about how long lock down will be, how long the world will be tipped upside down for. I can see the world gradually finding balance again, but I think we’ll be redefining “normal”, and we’ll be a long way from that definition of normal for at least the rest of the year.
I hope that comes vaguely close to doing your questions justice, Bridget. Keen to expand further if you have any questions on this!
Thanks as always 