Wise Words to Make A Positive Difference

If there is one thing the business world forgets it is this: people have what they need, but seldom what they actually want. World renowned author, blogger and marketer Seth Godin offered words of wisdom to help businesses navigate the COVID-19 storm in a recent podcast. “Just because you have the money to interrupt somebody (through an unsolicited email, robocall, etc.) does not mean that they want to hear from you.” Instead, Godin believes what most people want is a helping hand, especially at a time when they are curled up underneath their desks. If you offer to help someone instead of trying to sell them something, you’ll achieve a much greater return.

“When a society is hit by a crisis,” claims Godin, “you can do one of three things: react, respond or initiate. Reacting means an adverse reaction to an external input such as news or medicine, for example. Responding means that you respond to an external signal to make it better and initiating means helping even if nobody asked you to.” DPHA members can initiate by reaching out to clients to let them that they are available to the community if they are having problems in their home, offering guidance to address the most common home repairs and to discuss how homeowners can make their confinement more enjoyable. Godin asks, “At the end of the day, have you only checked emails and read everything you can on Facebook? Or did you make a contribution? Because the money will take care of itself if you are a good citizen? Ask yourself, how can you use your expertise to make a contribution to your local community and your clients?

This is a time to be rational. “The trick is to stay resilient. I do that by keeping a level head. If you think and act rationally, you are more able to acknowledge that you are wrong.” Godin challenges others to teach him why he is wrong. He wants to be able to change his mind. He recommends this mindset to everyone because, “It gives you direction and helps you evolve. In other words, it feels like a compass, which is way more useful than a map.”