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I wrote this last April. It still applies now →
From
sarafrandina.com
Email Address
hello@sarafrandina.com
Sent On
Fri, Mar 12, 2021 04:53 PM
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Hey there - I’ve got a proposition for you: Every time you use the word “unprecedented
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Hey there - Iâve got a proposition for you: Every time you use the word âunprecedentedâ, do a pushup. If all the individuals + companies out there were doing this, theyâd be fit AF. Hereâs the problem: I want to hear from you. I want to know the shifts happening in your business; I want to know how itâs going to affect me. But the minute you start with âThese are unprecedented timesâ¦â Iâve tuned out. Not because these arenât, in fact, unprecedented times. In fact, I wrote this email as a draft last April when we were still very much at the start of this pandemic, and 11 months later, it still applies, because the past year has shown us that anything can happen. The real issue here isnât that individuals and businesses communicated â itâs that they seemed to hop on the exact same train, feeling the need to get something out right away and paying very little mind to making it unique to their business and their audience. Because of that, the message we heard from most of them sounded eerily similar. (It had me wondering: Did the CDC send this down?) â âThese are unprecedented times.â â âWeâve canceled travel.â â âOur workers are equipped to work remote.â â âWeâre still taking a shower in the morning.â And hereâs what I heard: Blah. Blah. Blah. (Okay, I kid. No one mentioned the shower. I wouldâve actually appreciated that one. But, would I have made it far enough to actually read it?) Again â I want to hear from the companies and people I follow and buy from. But I want to hear what you have to say, not what government regulations, legal speak, or the rest of your industry does. Because when everyone is spewing the exact same message, it makes it all too easy to tune right on out. Allow me to complement this rant with a useful example: The Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY, where we lived until November of 2019, sent out immediate communication late last March. I remember nothing from it, except that the Zoo was closing. Now, had I received an email from Fiona the hippo, telling me that despite not being able to see people all day, sheâs still regularly crunching on lettuce, getting her swim on, and happily staying socially distanced in the company of her pups? That wouldâve had me pulling out my wallet at lightning speed to make sure that Fiona â and all of the Zooâs animals â were supported during the closure, despite me not even living there anymore. (For anyone fact checking: I donât actually know the hippoâs name, and in fact, might be thinking of the hippo from the Cincinnati Zoo. Forgive me. Itâs Friday.) Now, Iâm not saying that you shouldn't communicate the essentials. Your audience wants to know if your hours have changed. Or if the packages theyâre expecting are being sanitized. Or if your event is moving online. And if your team is all okay. But â tell it in your way. Tell it in the way that will resonate with your people. Empathy and connection matter in all communication, but especially now. Smarmy, lazy marketers will be smarmy, lazy marketers. But you? You can be and do better. Until next time, be kind + use your voice - Sara P.S. Also of note: When the world as we know it flips upside down, or events occur that cause us to reckon with issues that cannot be solved in a day, know that itâs okay to process first, then respond. And then? Learn, grow, and readjust. When you show up from a place of empathy and connection, your people will appreciate the process. P.P.S. Yeah, I said âunprecedentedâ in this email. Iâm off to go do 5 pushups. With a very pregnant belly. Wish me luck. #weakarms #DwightSchrute â Ready to call it quits? [Click this link]( to remove yourself from all communications. (No hard feelings.) If you'd like to opt-out of specific content, just hit reply + let me know. Iâll get you sorted, ASAP. | SFS HQ: Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02140
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