In the first of an occasional series looking at how the pandemic has affected some of the Masstech team around the world, Masstech VP of Global Sales, Luc Tomasino, strikes a positive note.
The last four months have been some of the strangest in all our working and domestic lives. For many it’s been a period of terrible hardship and loss, and my thoughts are constantly with those who have, or still are suffering. The tone of optimism of this piece is merely a reflection of my nature, and is not in any way intended to down-play the terrible situation that so many have had to endure.
That said, as I look back on the previous few months, it’s not without a genuine sense of appreciation of the way that many industry colleagues and peers have adapted to the situation, and I’ve been really impressed by the quality and insight of articles and webinars that may not otherwise have been created.
For me, this period will forever bring an association with both the launch of our Kumulate platform, and also with the (mostly) positive time in my family life. This was primarily the result of the enforced remote working, and while I am sure that not everyone else will have had such a fortunate time, for me, there have been some interesting, challenging and heart-warming elements.
What isn’t in doubt is that there has been an impressive take-up of remote working and the tools and processes the new way of life requires. There is a plethora of stats to pull from – and this is just scratching the surface.[1]
- SaaS usage soars to meet collaboration needs. Use of video conferencing is exploding as Zoom reached 200 million daily participants (paid and free) up from just 10 million in December.[vi]
- Remote work boosts productivity. Remote workers are 35% to 40% more productive than people who work in corporate offices.[xiii]
- Organizations are mobilizing, using crisis response teams to coordinate their response. 81% of companies now have a crisis response team in place. [iii]
And it’s not just numbers. I’ve always believed that there are some fundamentals that will always hold true in any market environment, and this has been true for the Covid-19 situation:
- Hustle and purposeful activity will get the job done
- More focus will gain more traction – I’ve used this period to focus my time, and now spend 75% of my time directly with clients
- More intensity forces decisions that have been hanging out there – rather than kick that can down the road. Take this time to deal with them head on, it will free your mind to focus on the high ROI activities
- Hone your craft – I’m amazed at the wealth of talent out there and the generosity of learning being shared. For all of you who have shared, thank you.
Taking those fundamentals into account, this Covid situation has brought a few intriguing highlights:
- CRMs – If you didn’t like your CRM before and were thinking of changing it, you’re going to be very inspired (that’s putting it politely) to change your CRM now more than ever. Remote working is highlighting your CRMs gaps with a floodlight.
- Show the way – rather than managing people, I’ve rolled up my sleeves and dove right into doing what I used to do: hunt and sell. And you know what? I’ve found the joy of selling again. It’s been super fun and truly rewarding. Most of us are working from home, and we’re all communicating with more people, which means we all – sales, finance, support, engineering – get a chance to show the way by selling, by becoming an evangelist for our products or solutions.
- Getting closer – with all the video conferencing, I’ve learned more about my colleagues, clients, and partners than ever before. It’s been fun learning about each other’s home lives with the occasional family member shuffling by the camera. I remember one video call I had with a prospective employee who stopped to wave to his children who were going out to play in the garden. That warmed my heart. In another instance, my mom, who was staying with me, meandered into a video conference call. I gently migrated her off prem. (i.e., off camera – there you go, that’s my first storage management joke), answering her questions. “Who are all those people on your computer screen? Are they nice? Can I say hello to them?” Um…maybe a little later, mom.
So despite its terrible effects on many, there are positive aspects to the pandemic: less travel (and the crunch stress that goes with it) has opened up a world of possibilities. More time doing what I’m paid to do (sell), diving deeper into Masstech’s solutions (make our clients’ lives better), and bringing my family closer into my world.
In a nutshell – and this may sound odd given social distancing – my job has become a lot more human. It’s been tough for many out there, and we wish everyone well as we get through this pandemic. But a lot of good can and will come out of this, if we allow it.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing of your own experiences.
Cheers and stay safe.
Luc
1 https://www.riverbed.com/blogs/15-surprising-stats-on-remote-work-due-to-covid-19.html
