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KB your way recently. While businesses are certainly cratering into the ground, there are sales opportunities, marketing opportunities, connection opportunities, and networking opportunities out there. This isn’t the time to be sitting around at home watching Tiger King! Downshift into a lower gear and get started back up again. Devise an ‘Achievement Plan’ for what you intend to do. Today. Tomorrow. By the end of the week. Write this stuff down. What is important to your business? Reconnect with your business by determining your daily intention on what needs to happen. Then, dedicate the necessary actions to achieve what’s on your list. It sounds simple. Bear in mind that for the most part people are better planners than doers. It’s easy to make a checklist and much harder to start knocking items off it. 4. Score small wins It’s really difficult to think about where we might be six months or a year from now. I know this because I’m focused on it just like you are. But progress only happens when we move forward. Here I want to introduce you to the concept of ‘stacking’: stacking small wins is a great way to achieve a larger victory because it may seem easier. For example, start with trying to engage with at least one customer, supplier, employee, or industry colleague a day. Call them up. Remember, you’re leading with empathy, so no selling. Just ask one, or all, of the aforementioned questions: How can I help? What do you need? Are you okay? When you have consistently connected with at least one person a day for about two weeks or so, up the ante. Make it two people a day. Then maybe three. Why is this important? Getting small wins has a cumulative effect. Over the last 30 business days or so, I have spoken with an average of about ten people a day. Some days more, some less. That’s over a network of three hundred different companies, in all areas of business, not solely our industry. My perception of the business environment is different than yours as I’m constantly seeking out what’s the latest from all corners of the globe. The talking heads on TV are not relaying the information that I’m getting. The street- level view is much different. This is important, as these small wins in communication are helping me understand and comprehend the challenges and fears that people have. So call your customers. They want to hear from you. 5.Communication technology The days of customers coming to your shop may be over – at least for a bit. Currently, nobody is traveling anywhere, so there’s that. But what I mean is that the ‘next normal’ may be centred on your communication technology. Are you using Zoom or video at all? Skype? People want a human to human connection. We miss it. More companies than ever before are pushing out webinars and live chats. What are you doing to use the technology that is available to connect with current or potential customers? Inaction won’t create the future you desire. You don’t need permission. What are you waiting for here? Create an action plan that uses communication technology to connect with your customers. Run some tests. Goof it up. Learn how to do it. Laugh your way through it and have fun. Soon, you might think: “How did we ever get by without this?” 6. Get off the sidelines A good number of business owners are freezing in place with a “wait and see” attitude right now. That’s dangerous. Sure, there is a fog of uncertainty that has swooped down upon everything. Life right now is a mess. However, if you are waiting around for things to get better or your government cheque to land before you do anything, you are wasting precious time. Time you will never get back. Now is the opportunity to get creative, to experiment and, most of all, to demonstrate value. You need to be connecting with people and helping them solve their problems. The decorated apparel industry has always been a resilient force in business. We are seeing that now with fundraising apparel programmes for small businesses, or companies pivoting to the protective mask need. Start moving out of this malaise by taking action and creating a path out of the pandemic event. 7. Your business policies If there ever was a time to get 100% of the money for your orders before doing anything, the time is now. When I speak with shop owners that didn’t fully implement this policy before because of fear or pushback, it seems like everyone is pivoting to this without any trouble whatsoever. Why? The pandemic crisis is the bad guy. If you have had trouble before shifting to 100% payment upfront, throwing the coronavirus under the bus for your new payment plan works like a charm. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all orders must be paid completely before work starts.” Easy as pie. But that’s not the only thing your shop needs to consider. Are you now allowing customers back in the door? If so, what is your policy? Are you checking forehead temperatures for customers, staff, vendors and other people before letting them inside? Who is doing that? What about delivery dates? Get some clarity on your policy on this under the current circumstances, as you know how customers get if something is late. Finally, I would be asking more questions than ever before. It is fantastic that someone is placing an order, but make sure you have all the facts and details straight, especially if you are operating with a limited staff, or are not as familiar or knowledgeable as you should be. Confusion invites an argument later. Be clear in your direction and instructions. Bonus: positivity wins! While it certainly is easy to be negative these days, that isn’t going to get you very far. So, stay positive, be positive and act positively. Marshall Atkinson is a production and efficiency expert for the decorated apparel industry, and the owner of Atkinson Consulting and co-founder of Shirt Lab, a sales and marketing education company, with Tom Rauen. He focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning, employee motivation, management and sustainability. www.atkinsontshirt.com www.images-magazine.com JUNE 2020 images 49 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT