Converting COVID Threat in an Opportunity
Dr. Dheeraj Dogra MRICS “Global Realty & Retail Analyst” Times of crisis offer with it a unique opportunity for growth and leadership. While everyone experiences varying degrees of social distancing, economic hardships, medical fears and undoubtedly losses. This is not only a rough situation for everyone involved, it's extremely demoralizing for salespeople. And even when the market starts to turn around, the reality of slow times is regularly felt by seasonal businesses. This is just one of those times where you won't be seeing new cash hit the bank—but that’s exactly why you need to maximize downtime. Think of yourself as a professional athlete. If you just go hard during the peak season and relax during the off-season, you put yourself at the whims of your own business cycles. Especially during an economic downturn, you have to stay disciplined and take charge of your own fate. Let yourself slide, and your muscles will atrophy and deteriorate. Train intensively during downtime: When you and your sales team are used to closing deals every day, it’s easy for the off-season to bring down your spirits. The best salespeople are highly active and goal oriented, and it’s frustrating to maintain a sense of focus when your benchmark for success is stripped away. The most powerful way to keep everyone on board and motivated is to keep busy, and focus on getting better sales, rather than just selling. All this can be achieved by training and upgrading your skill set. Earn A New Certification: Taking webinars to learn from experts is great but go one step further and walk away with a certification when you’re done with your learning. Getting certified shows that you passed an exam given by a certifying body, which you can then leverage when job hunting or asking for a promotion. Get a Perspective simply because “This too shall pass”: When you have a longer-term perspective, it alleviates the short-term panic. Yes, this is a difficult time, but the sky isn’t falling down. This too shall pass and, once it does, there will be a rebound in people searching for homes and a pent-up demand that you should be ready for. Remember—in this time of crisis, the one place people had as their safe haven was their home. Their homes became their shelter, their comfort and their lifeboat. People will always need a home and, in days to come, you will help many of them find the home of their dreams. You will also help to guide investors—real estate is always going to be a place where people invest, and that’s not likely to change. The change of dynamics due to corona is not just limited to remote working, or role of automation or AI. It’s about how leaders can reskill and upskill the workforce to deliver new business models in the post Covid era. To meet this challenge, companies should craft a talent strategy that develops employees’ critical digital and cognitive capabilities, their emotional and social skills and their adaptability and resilience. Now is the time for companies to double down on their learning budgets and commit to reskilling. Developing this muscle will also strengthen companies for future disruptions. Digitization, the next frontier: During one of the most difficult times in our world’s recent history, the coronavirus pandemic has demanded a shift towards a workplace which is digitized. The world of digital assets is expanding, and we are starting to see each piece of daily life and business activity being converted into a computer-readable format. In the future, an increasing number of real estate transactions will be taking place remotely online. Besides coronavirus and other publicly disturbing events that lead to mass hysteria, there are behavioral and technological evolutions that have been turning real estate from a purely physical asset to a digitally behaving one. While everyone is scrambling to learn how to navigate the way we do business and live life in a “socially distant” environment, real estate professionals have an opportunity to expand their digital skills. In the midst of a crisis, you have the opportunity to be a consistent presence and connection in your networks. And with conscious effort, you can stand out as someone who provides a sense of humanity and safe advice during a time of isolation and chaos. Opportunity in crisis & Silver linings Herein lies the opportunity for the strategic digital leader. In the midst of a crisis, you have the opportunity to have a consistent presence and connection in your networks. And with conscious effort, you can stand out as someone who provides a sense of humanity and safe advice during a time of chaos. People often look to minimize the impact of downtime. They reduce risk-taking, lay off staff, and cut internal spending. But this is the kind of short-term thinking that impedes future success. Sharpen your competitive edge, and look toward aggressively improving all aspects of your sales outreach. When you don’t see any opportunity, go out and create new ones—they’re yours for the taking. In doing so, you’ll transform downtime into uptime.
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