Chapter 8: The End is the Beginning – 3 Things You Can Do Now to Plan for the Future
Forget about what’s happening right now or even tomorrow. The billion-dollar question that every business should be thinking about is, “What’s going to happen when we get the all-clear signal to return to ‘normal’ life, and what will normal life even look like?”
Start thinking six months from now and beyond rather than focusing on the roller coaster of variants, restrictions, and vaccines happening right now. As I presented at Quirk’s Virtual Event recently, The End is the Beginning – and that’s when things are really going to get interesting – so plan for that inevitability now!
What do the Navigating to a New Normal respondents think about this pending future?
“Uncertain”
“Weird”
Here’s the thing: Life isn’t going back to exactly how it was.
It will look similar in some regards but in other ways, it will be completely different.
Here’s why …
72% of people in our ongoing quant study consistently say they want some type of change in their life once the pandemic is over.
When we dive in further, we find those changes have to do with being present in their lives and spending more time with loved ones. Work and material acquisition fall further down the list of priorities.
Changes to hygiene, handwashing, and mask-wearing are also desired by a majority.
48% of people currently working from home due to the pandemic indicate they want to do more of that in the future compared to pre-pandemic, either hybrid or full-time WFH.
31% of these same people want to go to their main workplace less than before.
Companies are already making plans to accommodate the desire for a hybrid work experience, which will elevate the table stakes of benefits for future employees.
The new work environment will change the way an employee’s personal economy is spent – less in and around the office, more in and around the home neighborhood.
Check out the sectors that will be directly impacted by the change.
And then there’s the mixed signals on personal activities. A strong desire to see friends and families but a concern to be in enclosed spaces like restaurants, movie theaters and concert halls.
There’s a new spectrum to consider when you think about your consumer – how risk-averse and/or germaphobic are they? How acclimated have they become to smaller, more intimate personal interactions rather than group meetups?
Consumers are not monolithic groups, reacting like lemmings all in one direction. They are fragmented and the pandemic is dividing them up even further.
3 Things You Can Do Now to Help Secure Your Business in the Future
1) Recognize the changes in consumers and what the return to ‘normal’ will look like for your business
2) Reimagine what needs your consumer will have, the priorities for your business and your knowledge gaps for future research.
3) Respond with new plans based on scenarios and ‘rapid response’ tactics.
And above all, take the time to get to know your consumer in their new normal environment.
Ignite 360 is offering application workshops based on Navigating to a New Normal and a synthesis of your existing data. For more information, email Jay Zaltzman jay@ignite-360.com
You might also find the following thought pieces of value to you and your team …
Holidays Gone Haywire – a look at holidays 2020 and our predictions for Holiday 2021
Chapter 2: How to Guide Your Consumer Through the Uncanny Valley – an earlier piece that still has relevance today as consumers have adapted to what ‘normal’ behavior is – the new normal will feel uncanny to them, kind of like a synthetic person.
You can find all of our Navigating to a New Normal content on our website
