Evolution is the New Consistency

Evolution is the only consistent thing. That’s what we need to remember in a moment like this, that we’re adaptable beings, constantly forced to reassess our approach, day by difficult day. Whenever I present a client with a strategy for how they’re going to speak to their community, I always stress that strategy is a living, breathing thing. It will adapt over time. It will bend and shift over the life of the brand, sometimes wildly. 

So this is one of those times when we need to regroup. We need to step back and decide what is the best way to proceed. There is no rush. This is a learning moment, not something to capitalize on. Sure, we are all in survival mode, literally and from a business perspective. How will I carry on if my customers disappear? But customers are temporary. Community is more permanent. If you show up in a way that is helpful today, people will remember it after the storm has passed. 

How can I serve? It’s the first question to ask when you’ve come to a  place that feels impossible. Think about serving first, selling a little later. You’re going to sound pretty tone deaf if you go straight for the sales copy. “Buy this,” is not what people want to hear right now. If you’re always thinking about serving, about doing the hard work of consistently pushing things forward in ways that align with your values, then your community will respond energetically and the selling part will follow naturally. In due time. Remember, markets like to move toward a happy equilibrium. Everything will calm down and even out eventually. And when it does, you won’t be the jerk who tried to sell someone an expensive case of champagne the week they lost their job.

Read the room. Let your community lead you right now. Let them tell you what they need, what their challenges are. Some of them are going to want to go full speed ahead. Others will want to use the downtime for foundationing. Some will need to pause altogether. Make sure your tone is sensitive to the mood of the moment without changing who you are completely. People want some things to feel normal. They want the you they’ve always known, just in a different context. With a new shade of sensitivity.

Nothing is certain. It never was. The only constant was change, always. And yet, we’re always so surprised when things shift. Humans, we are.

- Cristina Black