COVID-19. For the past month, this is probably the single thing that has been at the forefront of your media, your thoughts, and your business’ needs. For many, the current crisis has forced businesses to move completely to remote work, change their target audience, adjust their messaging, and in some unfortunate cases, shut down entirely.
We’ve been keeping a close eye on how that’s affected the world of email marketing and, like most of our customers, have come up with some messaging to make the best of the ever-changing nature of this crisis. But, like everyone, we have our blind spots. To help fill in the gaps, we reached out to the master himself,Diego Segura, to get his perspective.
You might remember him fromthis piece we wrote on how he used Interseller to kick-start his design career without going to college. Now that he’s a highly functioning member of the workforce, who is also learning to work during this challenging time, he had some wise words for everyone:
A few days ago—before the city locked down—I ventured to JFK and hopped on a flight to Austin.
The Uber to the airport was the quickest drive I’ve experienced. There were barely any vehicles on the expressways in and around the city.
The airport felt like a ghost town.
The flight was nearly vacant, just shy of twenty of us onboard to ABIA.
The coronavirus has shut everything down, but something else is happening:
Everyone suddenly seemed friendlier. My Uber driver, Frank, though he kept his distance and had a mask on, answered my questions about how the situation impacted him. We spoke to each other not like virus-carrying adversaries, but as two souls trying to make it in the world. Everyone at the airport, even those wearing gloves and face masks, smiled at each other. Even airport security was generous enough to help me as I was the only person going through TSA at Terminal 2.
When I boarded the plane, the flight attendants were less robotic. Since there were so few people aboard, they didn’t give a presentation to a mass of sardines packed in the metal tube of an airplane. Instead, they spoke to us. We all had on our face masks and hand sanitizer, but it was the most personable flight I’ve ever been on, and likely will ever be on.
On the business side, working from home means we’re jumping on calls with our clients, seeing their homes, hearing their children, and viewing their personal offices and bookshelves. Coronavirus put the world in lockdown—and it put everyone in the same boat through making them more personable. Unapologetically. Because there is nothing to apologize for.
This applies to email too. Take a look at the email I received as an Intuit customer, signed by the CEO. Every corporate message should be signed by someone.
It took a crisis to bring leaders, humans, the people behind the companies we love and spend money with, to come out and sign their names.
So… this is the big change.
Now is not the time for a fancy, corporate-designed newsletter.
It’s not the time for our no-reply email addresses.
It is the time for a video message, a voice message, a phone call, a personal email note.
Because I know for a fact the person on the other side of my screen is a person too, just like me, working from home, pressing send.
It all comes down to writing. Tone. Attitude. Personability. Vulnerability.
When all is said and done and everyone is back again in the office, none of us will be any less human than when we were at home.
Thanks Diego for sharing your story and perspective with us amidst all you’re going through.
This is a challenging time for everyone. We’ve seen organizations severely impacted by hiring freezes and undergoing major changes with their business processes. On the other side of this, some have experienced a hiring boom. To be successful during and after this period, now is the time to connect and build relationships, whether it’s with existing or prospective clients and candidates.
We’ve spoken to several customers who are all in the same boat and through these discussions, we’ve found that a helpful approach is focusing on tone and language when it comes to email messaging. Since we’re all feeling vulnerable during this time, it’s essential to be as empathetic and authentic as we can when connecting with others.
The Interseller team is here to help. We’re more than happy to help with your email messaging so you can stay ahead and on top of your relationships and pipeline when we overcome this crisis. We’re all in this together.