Category: Motivational Speaker

Scott Burrows, Florida Keynote Speaker

Florida is Coming Back Stronger than Ever – Are You Ready?

 

As a Florida Motivational Speaker who resides in Florida, you don’t have to remind me how badly the pandemic affected our state. A lot of my friends described the pandemic as a massive hurricane. In a way, that’s good. As a Floridian and a Florida Keynote Speaker, I know that no state in the nation gets over a hurricane better and faster than Florida.

Florida, Are You Determined to Make a Stand?

As 2019 gave way to 2020, Business Insider made three important statements about Florida:

  1. Florida is one of the United States’ economic powerhouses.
  2. It’s the third biggest state in the country by population, and has the fourth biggest economy. In fact, its GDP is larger than all but 16 countries.
  3. Florida’s economy is extremely diverse, with tourism and agriculture among its top industries.

While those statements are important, they left out the most important point: In Florida, our strength comes from our people.

As a Florida motivational speaker who has spoken to businesses, associations and other groups in Orlando, Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee and virtually every other city, I know the strength of our people. There is nothing that we can’t accomplish when we set our mind to it.

How do we go from where we were to where we want to be? It’s going to take all of our effort and my philosophy of Vision, Mindset and Grit.

Florida, Are You Determined to be The Best Ever?

I don’t believe in “getting back to where we were,” but getting to better than we were. We had a set-back, but that doesn’t mean we should sit back. Our people, our greatest asset, need to rise up and make a stand.

Florida, what is our vision for the months ahead as we re-energize and lift-up one another? Our vision must be one of pulling together, helping one another and doing all we can to returning Florida to where we need to be.

There will be those who will think that looking forward and being optimistic are not important, and that it is better to remember the good old days and to let someone else be positive and hopeful.

We must all share in this vision together, and we are all important. But it takes more than vision. It is a mindset. The Florida mindset has always been bold and enterprising. Whether your business, association or school is in Miami or St. Petersburg, you have never settled for “good enough.”

So, why start now?

As a Florida keynote speaker, I have always been amazed by the courage of my fellow Floridians. Courage demands that we have the mindset of re-inventing ourselves to be the best ever. We had the mindset to rebuild and to rise up from the worst of natural disasters. Why not now?

“Talking about something,” as we all know, accomplishes nothing. It is why the third part of my philosophy is “grit.” We must develop the everyday, grind it out grit to bring our vision to life and put our mindset into action.

With Vision, Mindset and Grit, there is nothing Florida can’t do.

 

Book Scott Burrows, Florida Keynote Speaker by contacting him through this website or directly calling his office at: (520) 548-1169

 

 

 

Scott Burrows, Association Keynote Speaker

Now, More Than Ever, Associations Must Engage Members

 

In my role as an association keynote speaker, I know that now, more than ever, associations must re-engage their members. Association membership has been in trouble for quite some time, and membership loss and membership engagement with those organizations have worsened during the pandemic.

In February 1, 2018, Associations Now published the results of a Member Loyalty Study that listed several reasons why members did not renew their memberships to associations.   Of the top reasons, three of them deserve note here:

  • 34% of members who dropped out said it was too costly
  • 26% of members who dropped out said the association was providing little value
  • 9% of members who dropped out said the organization had declined in quality

Unfortunately, with the pandemic, these same problems increased.  Michael Hickey, also writing for Associations Now (September 25, 2020) noted:

“Losing members is an unfortunate reality for every association. This is especially true in 2020, when new outside pressures—particularly the financial turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic—might have more people ready to cut membership fees out of their expenses, on top other reasons [reported above] that people let memberships lapse.”

Business as Usual or a New Mindset?

There is no doubt that 2020 was a year of “financial turmoil,” but as a keynote speaker for associations I know that to attribute membership declines and a lack of engagement to lockdowns does not tell the whole story.

Unfortunately, in some associations the decline has gone on for years. Ironically, associations are needed now, more than ever. The glue that holds professionals together is the professional association.

Jan Hill, writing for Onelegal.com, a website directed at law associations, listed 10 advantages to belonging to an association. Among those advantages were: getting your name “out there,” job prospects, mentoring programs, networking and resources. If we couple those advantages with the survey above, it is apparent that there is a vision and mindset problem because the advantages an association offers are exactly the things members need.

Associations should be “blasting off” with new members at this time – and they’re not. COVID should be serving as a catalyst for expanding association membership and not a damper.

What is needed is a new association mindset. Whether the association addresses financial services, accounting, agriculture, manufacturing or dentistry, members need the combined expertise and common bonds shared with like-minded people.

Does your association have the mindset and the vision to engage existing members and to attract new members? If, as the survey showed, more than a third of your members may be dropping out because they think it’s too costly, or if more than a quarter of your members have left because they see little value, what is your association’s vision for new programs or services or engagement messaging? Very seriously, if members are leaving because of the declining quality of your association’s professional benefits, what is the collective mindset for improving that quality?

As we are being led out of the pandemic, the association must be there to lead the way and to put a public face to your industry. A healthy industry must have healthy associations. It will take mindset, vision and grit.

 

 

Book Scott Burrows, association keynote speaker by contacting him through this website or his office at: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Resiliency Speaker

You are More Resilient than You Think (But You Already Knew That)

 

As a keynote speaker on resiliency and overcoming challenges, I want to congratulate you. You made it through 2020. Maybe you’re a little scarred and bruised, but you did it. I’m willing to bet that deep down you knew you could overcome last year’s challenges.

On the other hand, perhaps you’re worried about 2021; you’re convinced that 2020 was a fluke and that you can’t possibly go on it unless there’s a miracle. I’ve got good news for you. With vision, the right mindset and grit this year could be the best one ever. What’s more, there’s research that proves it.

More Resilient than You Think

Toward the end of last year, the Harvard Business Review featured an article by Marcus Buckingham, head of the ADP Research Institute on the topic of resiliency especially in light of the COVID pandemic.

The Institute conducted a major research study and found that not only were women and men equally resilient, but that age was never a factor. A man of 77 could be equally as resilient to change as a woman of 33.

In terms of the pandemic, the ADP Research Institute found that the closer a person was to family, friends or associates during this COVID time, the greater their resilience. In fact, “the more tangible the threat, the more resilient they became.”

What was most fascinating to me as a keynote speaker on resiliency was the finding that the greater the number of workplace changes, the greater the resilience. Sales teams, marketing or production departments, in fact any department, can adjust their resilience levels to meet most any challenge.

Be Determined to Be Resilient

Though the article developed conclusions about resilience in terms of COVID, I know first-hand that when I awakened following a horrific accident that left me a quadriplegic, I had no choice but to be determined to be resilient.

As I quickly assessed the number of changes my body had undergone, I knew I had to be resilient and I could overcome adversity. I could either be a victim of circumstances or have the vision of overcoming my situation. I had to develop the daily grit to fight through whatever life had thrown at me and I succeeded.

However, a virus or an accident are not the only circumstances that can cause us to lose resiliency.

Whether you are a member of a sales team that had no choice but to work remotely, a shop foreman in a production facility where everyone has had to socially distance, or the manager of a large accounting staff where everyone has had to work with clients under difficult situations, you can either be willing to fight back or to cave-in.

You can succeed in 2021. This can be the most successful year of your life but you have to be resilient enough to believe it. I’ll leave you with a final thought from the article:

“Many of our leaders are not giving us enough credit.  Psychologist Viktor Frankl told us back in the 1930s: ‘Our response to unavoidable suffering is one of the primary sources in our lives of meaning and purpose and self-efficacy. Suffering and difficulty must never be hidden from us.’ ”

No matter what we’re faced with this year, let’s meet it head-on. Let’s all have the vision, mindset and grit to bounce back from the adversity of 2020 and charge ahead.

 

Book Scott Burrows, keynote speaker on resiliency and overcoming challenges by contacting him through this website or his office at: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Insurance and Financial Services Keynote Speaker

Are You Determined to Know the Truth About Insurance Sales?

 

My career as an insurance and financial services keynote speaker wasn’t something, I fell into one fine day. I learned the insurance and financial services industry from the bottom up. Despite personal and physical hardship and sacrifice, I made it into the Million Dollar Round Table in five years.

Keeping Current

It’s important to me that I keep current with the insurance and financial services industry from a motivational speaker point of view and also for my knowledge base. As I am a virtual as well as in-person speaker, I was interested in a link sent to me by an old associated that was entitled The Truth About Being an Insurance Agent. As it was published recently, I wanted to understand the current thinking.

As my passion is motivating insurance and financial services industry sales people to achieve their best, I was interested in the section in the article “Why do insurance agents fail?”

The authors listed several reasons including: unrealistic expectations due to a lack of renewals; a lack of sales mainly due to a lack of industry knowledge and sales savvy; inadequate lead generation; running a business can be overwhelming and focusing on commissions instead of the needs of the customer. While it is impossible to find fault with the points, they seem to fall short of the actual reasons for the failures.

Mindset, Determination and Grit

My philosophy of insurance and financial services sales is based on three underlying principles: mindset, determination and grit.

As to the issue of unrealistic expectations leading to a lack of sales, if this were the case, no one would go into the profession at first, nor would anyone focus on generating leads. Or, for that matter, who would create an insurance and financial services business or want to make a difference in the lives of their clients?

If a new agent has a realistic mindset about what it takes to create a business, if they are determined to go after business and to generate leads, if they have the daily grit to deliver exceptional customer service and to run an outstanding business, they will succeed.

My philosophy is not based on hollow words. When I entered the insurance and financial services business, I was still undergoing physical therapy following a horrific automobile that left me a quadriplegic.  In my recovery, I developed the mindset to see myself heal, the determination to do whatever I could to improve inch by inch, step by step and most important, to have the grit to get better and be better every day.

It’s Not Beyond Your Ability

Never think that success is reserved for other people, it is right there for you. If you are determined to be successful in the insurance and financial services business you can do it. When I was recovering from my accident, I was surrounded by many terrific people who encouraged and pushed my healing. No one pushed me harder than I pushed myself.

However, there was one type of “visitor” I never allowed in my life: negative people. On your road to success, there will be negativity.

The truth is this: you can be successful. Be determined to be successful and have the grit to build something great for yourself. Let no one tell you otherwise.

 

Book Scott Burrows, Insurance and Financial Services Keynote Speaker today, for your next convention or sales meeting, through this website or by calling (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Goal Setting and Success Speaker

“Dealing with It,” Isn’t a Game Plan

 

In a recent virtual presentation I gave on goal setting and success for 2021, I commented that “Dealing with It” isn’t a game plan. Goal setting and success require determination. Times may be uncertain but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set goals.

Who will win in 2021? The person with vision, mindset and grit.

Build Something Powerful

Business journalist John Boitnott recently wrote an article for Entrepreneur magazine entitled “How to Build Your 2021 Business Strategy in the Face of Uncertainty.” Boitnott listed several focal points to consider that not only apply to entrepreneurs, but to anyone in sales or marketing. The three most important points he raised were:

  1. Focus on what you can do.
  2. Provide valuable resources for customers.
  3. (Anticipate) More certainty than uncertainty.

I would like to briefly discuss the items in view of my philosophy of vision, mindset and grit and how they can turn 2021 into the best year of your life.

Focus on What You Can Do

For most of 2020, the world was in some form of lockdown. Business was tough, lay-offs and bankruptcies were everywhere and pessimism was at an all-time high. Despite the doom and gloom, some people did rise up, in fact whole companies rose up, and had incredible years. I’m not dismissing the challenges certain sectors of the economy faced, yet what was it that enabled some businesses able to fight and survive while others gave up and walked away?

It comes down to vision.

Vision focuses on what we can do, right here and right now. In focusing on what can be done to better a situation, rather than wringing our hands and giving up, is empowering. For me personally, vision saved my life.

After an accident took me from being a Division-I athlete to a quadriplegic, I developed the vision to be as strong and mobile as I could be. I progressed further than anyone (except for myself) could have imagined. View 2021 through the lens of vision. While that might sound like a play on words, giving a strong focus, a lens, to your vision is more powerful than you could ever imagine.

Provide Valuable Resources for Customers

Virtually everyone who works, works for a customer. Think about it. What is your plan to provide the best customer service in 2021 that you can for those customers?

It comes down to mindset.

Your 2021 mindset must be to do everything in your power to deliver a level of customer service that far exceeds any experience your customer has ever seen. Customer service wins and keeps customers. Your goal, your mindset, must be to earn a “Five-Star” rating every day. To whatever level you can be there for customers, be there!

(Anticipate) More certainty than uncertainty.

Is this a mistake? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? No! We have seen the worst of it in 2020. The year threw everything it could at us. There are no surprises now. What will it take to develop a successful 2021 game plan?

It comes down to daily grit.

Vision and mindset are necessary, no doubt about it, but in 2021 it will take grit to make the plan work. Are you willing to fight for every victory, every success, every square inch of success?

Getting up from a hospital bed did not happen all at once for me. It was the daily progress, the struggle and the sweat. Grit isn’t pretty, but it’s the glue that holds the plan together. It is grit that will bring you out into the sunlight.

You will get through this, but just don’t deal with it, rise-up and become the winner that you are.

 

Scott Burrows, Dynamic Goal Setting and Success Motivational Speaker, can be reached through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Resilience and Adversity Keynote Speaker

Adversity is Not a Four-Letter Word

 

Several years ago, the Harvard Business Review ran an article entitled “How to Bounce Back from Adversity.” It is as important now as when it was first written a decade ago.

One of my favorite passages rings true to me now, more than ever:

“Even for the less heroic among us, adversity can touch off intense bursts of negative emotion—as if a dark cloud had settled behind our eyes, as one sales manager described it. We may feel disappointed in ourselves or others, mistreated and dispirited, even besieged.”

It’s true. Many of us play the blame game or the victim role when times get tough. It is as though some of us expected the good times to last forever, back to the glorious pre-pandemic days, back to when we told ourselves we could sell or market anything. Truth be told, tough times have always been with us.

The winners in tough times have been resilient and, as the article explains, we learned to bounce back. We were determined to bounce back and had a vision of ourselves as winners. But we all know those who put together strings of four-letter words and who threw up their hands and quit.

The Difference is Grit

Adversity is always with us in one form or another. Currently, it is a virus that has shut down the way we do business. In the past it has been recessions, depressions, fuel prices, inventory problems, raw material shortages but somehow, the best of the best overcame adversity and succeeded, while others used disparaging words and walked away.

What was the difference? Were the successful brighter, more connected or better looking? That is what the victim mentality suggests, but it’s not true. The experts agree that the one quality the most successful sales and marketing people share is another four-letter word, “Grit.”

Grit is not the same thing as determination, though they are often used interchangeably. I can be determined to sell more, market better, produce a higher quality product. But the machine that drives that determination is the daily, hourly, grind it out effort that refuses to give in and that says, “I will do what I need to do to be successful.”

I was recently shocked to hear a manufacturer friend lament that he couldn’t get his suppliers to return his calls, and another story of a physician who was waiting on some promised information from a pharmaceutical sales rep. Both stated that they were getting so impatient they were considering alternatives.

We can attend all of the virtual meetings we would like, where the vice president of sales or marketing tells us to be determined to sell more and market our products better, but “determination” is much like good intentions. What makes the difference is the grit to follow-up, give superior customer service and to always out-hustle the competition.

These are not easy times for anyone no matter what industry you are in, and the times call for resiliency in the face of adversity. However, these are not impossible times. Forget about fancy terms, buzzwords and slogans. Focus on the simple things and the simplest words, and always value the power of grit.

 

Book Scott Burrows, Resilience, Adversity and Change Motivational Speaker for your next sales meeting through this website or by calling (520) 548-1169

Scott Burrows, Virtual Sales Team Motivational Speaker

The Most Important Member of Your Sales Team? Hint: It Isn’t You.

 

As a virtual sales team motivational speaker, I know how tough its been in what I call “The Time of COVID.” The good news is that for the most part, business has adapted.

McKinsey & Company, the international management consulting firm, has found that during these times, 96 percent of B2B sales teams have shifted to remote selling, and 65 percent of company decision makers feel remote selling is more efficient for them than ever before. In fact, many companies now prefer remote selling rather than in-person sales calls.

Who Thrives, Who Fails?

Whether remote selling will become a way of life, will go away completely after vaccines and such, or somewhere in the middle, those who make the sale must be determined to succeed. Now, more than ever, sales teams must have a unified vision to be successful. As to my question about the most important member of the virtual sales team? It is no one. There is no single person, it is all of you. In these challenging times, sales teams rise or fall together.

How do we rise to the occasion? I have identified at least five key factors:

  • Coordination – Without constant interaction and communication among the entire team, there can be no success. While all of us who grew up in sales are familiar with the old expression of “There is no ‘I’ in team,” during the time of COVID it has never been more important. Each member of the sales team must be determined to reach out and network with one another.
  • Knowledge is Power – The more teams know, and the more they are trained and given the materials to expand their knowledge, the more successful the team will become. Everyone must go the extra mile to help one another, to find information and features valuable to their product or service to help them make the sale. Team members who withhold information can bring down the entire team. Everyone must embrace the vision of working together,
  • What are our objectives? If we can’t get together on a plan and reaching our pre-determined objectives, then we are walking around in the dark. Accountability is a mindset. Everyone on the team must be accountable during tough times. What are your objectives to ensure success?
  • Make the meeting. The virtual sales team is a “we” proposition where we share, strategize and assist one another. Scheduled meetings must be respected. Unless there is a major virtual presentation taking place where a team member cannot appear, there can be no excuse for missing a team meeting. The meeting is where we build each other up, fight for objectives and stick to the plan.
  • Grit. Nothing will happen unless the sales team has the grit to get it done. Grit is not an on-again, off-again proposition. Grit is “the contract” that says we will have good days and bad, but we will push each other and celebrate one another day-in and day out. Grit is a commitment to excellent.

We are the sales team, and the sales team is us. Virtual or in-person, we will succeed if we have the vision, determination and mindset to succeed.

 

Scott Burrows, Virtual Sales Team Motivational Speaker is available for virtual sales meetings  and events for companies and associations. Contact Scott today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Medical Device Sales Speaker on Managing Change

Medical Device Sales Customers Need You, Are You Determined to ‘See’ Them?

 

How is your Medical Device Sales team managing change in these times of COVID-19? Are you succeeding or have you given up? Your customers need you more than ever, are you determined to see them? Or have you written them off?

“But I can’t ‘see’ them Scott, everything has changed.”

Have things really changed, or has your selling mindset changed? It is serious question every pharmaceutical salesperson can only answer for one person: themselves.

Change Does Not Mean Defeat

We are living in a time of change and upheaval. But as a pharmaceutical sales professional, you need to harness the negatives into positives. There is no choice. Do you have vision to see yourself succeed? If not, then why not?

Not long ago, inc. magazine published an insightful article entitled: “7 Reasons Sales Pros Fail.” You might be surprised at the observations; they aren’t reasons wrapped in technical jargon or mystery. The author found that failing sales people have no sense of urgency; they possess a negative attitude; have a poor work ethic and most disturbing, they don’t believe in themselves.

The pandemic, being forced to sell remotely or socially-distanced, is not the first-time Medical Device sales teams have faced adversity. The industry has succeeded during The Great Depression, worldwide conflicts, recessions, inflation, mergers, acquisitions, new technologies, natural disasters, man-made disasters and other tragedies.

If sales teams are fearful of their abilities, lack confidence, are disorganized or have negative attitudes, why would a purchasing agent, administrator, healthcare professional or office manager have confidence in the product or those behind it?

Change is hard and times are tough, but they are even tougher on your customers. They need you. Have that sense of urgency and all of the customer service that goes with it; out-hustle the competition; make a positive work ethic your daily mission; and believe in yourself.

Congratulate Yourself

No matter how defeated you may feel at the moment, congratulate yourself. Failure is a part of making progress. Failure means you haven’t given up.

Before my accident, I was a competitive martial artist and Division-I football player. I measured my progress not by wins and losses (that was later) but how my conditioning, speed, strength, reflexes and mental toughness were improving.

I did not win in the ring or will myself out of a hospital bed because I am super-human, but I had a vision of getting better every day, and I had the determination to succeed and the daily grit to see it through.

In this time of COVID-19, your customers need all of the support they can get. Go the extra mile to give them information beyond what they can read online. Be creative in how you reach out and meet their needs. They need you. Be there for them.

Engage your customers with all of the technology at your disposal and keep in mind that out-hustling the competition will pay dividends.

Change brings good times and bad to the Medical Device industry. The most successful salespeople are change-proof. And remember that with hard work, whatever you lack, you can gain.

 

 

To book Scott Burrows, International Medical Device Sales Speaker on Managing Change, for a virtual or in-person sales meeting, contact us through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Corporate Sales, Change Management Speaker

When Everything is Changing, What Should Stay the Same?

 

If you perform any corporate sales function, I don’t have to tell you that in the pandemic everything has changed. As a former corporate sales person myself, I valued meeting face-to-face with my clients. That is currently not possible. Sales people have had to re-focus their strategies.

The Change Begins with You

If corporate sales teams are trying to understand how to manage change, their customers are in the same boat as well.

David Ash, senior vice president of FLMH, an agricultural sales and marketing firm, gave this advice to sales teams attempting to adjust to the changes brought about by COVID:

“Many people are frozen in place right now and don’t know what to do with themselves. But it’s important to get up every morning, create a plan, set goals and focus on how you can best serve your customers.”

This thought was echoed by FLMH executive vice president Mitch Van Kampen:

“We have to get creative about problem solving…it’s the salesperson’s business to be asking the right questions and finding proactive solutions.”

These solutions don’t come by magic, they require an intentional vision to develop strategy to implement that change. Sales consultant Tamara Schenk concluded the following regarding sales team management during periods of change.

  • You first need a shared vision of success across the organization.
  • You need a comprehensive change story, i.e., What we doing? Why are we doing it?
  • You need to have clarity in how those changes are to be accomplished.
  • Most importantly: The change you want to see in the organization begins with you.

Do you have the determination to see that change begins with you? Your sales team may have a good idea of what they want to accomplish, they may be clear on those goals, but unless they have the daily grit to get things done, managing change will be an impossible, uphill battle.

See Yourself as Successful

Tamara Schenk makes an important sales change observation:

“The key for success is you being the example for the change you want to see in your organization. That means that you should be the first to use and apply the new methods, processes, tools, content assets, etc. You should be amongst the first to use new content, including the sharing functions, with your clients. If it’s about training or coaching, you should be the first one attending the class, even if it’s an online training.”

If you are employed in any corporate sales capacity during these times of rapid and unexpected changes, you must be determined to set an example, to leave your comfort zone and to be determined to lead. Remember that your customers need you.

Become better informed than anyone in your organization, learn as much as you can, coach as many people on your team as possible, and make yourself invaluable.

There will always be change, but what must remain is your vision and core values. For those with the mindset of winning, with the determination to make a difference and the desire to win, there will be rewards.

The pandemic is a major challenge, to be sure, but there will always be challenges. Those who rise to them will be winners. Be the winner that you are.

 

Scott Burrows, Corporate Sales Change Management Speaker, is available for virtual or in-person sales meetings for associations and organizations. Contact Scott today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

Scott Burrows, Small Business Resilience Speaker

Small Business in America: It’s Gut-Check Time

 

Being a small business resilience speaker and having my own business, I relate on a personal level to one of the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic: how it impacted small business across America.

By May 12, 2020, the Washington Post reported that at least 100,000 small businesses had shut their doors.

A small business doesn’t necessarily mean a “Mom and Pop Stationery Store.” The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business as having as many as 1,500 employees and $35 million in sales.

When a small business goes out of business, it is a tragedy. A business isn’t a “thing,” it’s people trying to build something for themselves and their families.

It is Time for Small Business to Go Big

In July 2020, the United States Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey entitled “Small Business Corona Virus Impact Poll.” The poll reported that of the small businesses that survived the first wave, “Two-thirds of small businesses (65%) are concerned about having to close again or stay closed if there is a second wave…”

The survey reminds us that after the initial lockdown occurred, 85 percent of small businesses were forced to temporarily close. They don’t know if they can survive a second onslaught.

However, there is optimism in this bleakness. Businesses are taking action to anticipate the second wave: 32 percent are purchasing extra inventory, 29 percent are updating websites and improving social media profiles, and 25 percent are refining and boosting e-commerce.

While I’m pleased that small businesses are taking steps to look ahead, there is much more that can be done. In an Associated Press release, entitled “Ways Small Businesses Can Fight Back Amidst COVID-19 and the Retail Apocalypse,” Nebraska farmer Steve Buchanan had some interesting insights including the implied need for local businesses to have the determination to reach out to local communities and to make an impact.

There is great wisdom in reaching out locally. In fact, Mr. Buchanan now sells his produce almost exclusively online.

When I speak to small business associations, I encourage each organization to develop a mindset that envisions success. Does your small business have a vision that looks beyond the current challenges to overcome the challenges?

While buying extra inventory, updating websites and boosting e-commerce are necessary, they are passive.

An important part of having the mindset to overcome challenges is to be creative, to be willing to be an active participant in finding new ways to get customers “in the door,” and to share that vision with every member of your organization. This is called resilience.

Whether you have a dog grooming business with three employees or 300 grooming businesses with 500 employees, there must be a shared vision. To be truly resilient means that everyone in the organization must be determined to pull together to encourage opinions and to believe in your mission.

My heart aches for those small businesses barely holding their own, but I would feel even worse if the only thing standing between success and failure of a small business in the coming months was a lack of resilience to meet the challenges.

Let’s all be determined to have the daily grit to make the vision work and the resilience to do what we need to do to get through this time together.

 

Scott Burrows, Small Business Resilience Speaker, is available for virtual or in-person sales meetings for associations and organizations. Contact Scott today through this website or by calling: (520) 548-1169

 

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