‘How Businesses Survived Covid: High-Tech, High-Touch Approach’
Like many businesses, when the pandemic was upon us, adapting and innovating were words that found themselves much more prevalent than perhaps they once had.
The name John Naisbitt and his ideologies on high tech/high touch come to mind. Although we, in many ways, were forced into technology whether we were prepared (or not), it was most important not to lose the high-touch component of the business.
As a result of this force into a high-tech space, this meant connecting on a more personal level with clients, consumers and prospects of the business even more important. Additionally, this meant more time being spent on phone calls, emails or taking advantage of personalized cards and gifts where this was appropriate.
‘High-tech age deserves high-touch balance in the same measure’ — John Naisbitt, Megatrends, Forced Technology, 1982. He goes on to say, ’embracing technology that preserves our humanness and rejecting technology that intrudes upon it.’
As a ghostwriter, and I’m sure others in related professions, coaching, health and wellness, beauty, business development, etc., have several phases: high-tech (remember, understand) and high-touch (apply, analyze, evaluate and create). With these phases in mind, the pandemic, without question, hindered the high-touch areas.
I readily believe that businesses, my own included, that leaned heavier on the high-touch pieces through the methods mentioned above continued to thrive (or, in this case, survive). We know that customers and clients prefer speaking to or working with an actual human. When you contact a call centre, for example, we almost always find ourselves pressing the number zero over and over, wanting to speak to someone. So as much as businesses want to lean on high-tech (and should in some cases), the high-touch approach has often proven to be much more effective in customer care and, ultimately—higher sales volume.
This balance of high-tech and high-touch became much more complex through the pandemic, but those who did find it flourished in many ways.
Lastly, from a brick-and-mortar perspective, businesses became much more adaptable and innovative, and I believe they achieved the necessary success to survive. For example, we saw restaurants creating boxes full of ingredients for customers to make themselves. We saw hardware stores doing curbside pick-up and provided online videos on how to use the purchased merchandise. Although these scenarios aren’t quite the same as being in person, they stretched with a high-touch approach that contributed to their ongoing success.
Although I hope never to experience this pandemic-style business again, I can confidently say that many great innovative lessons arose during this time and ones I will continue to apply in my own business.
Media Bio:
Catherine Nikkel is a content creator, ghostwriter, author and Mindful Media founder. She specializes in helping CEOs, entrepreneurs, and influencers create copy that engages and converts. Her work has appeared in Forbes, Huffington Post, Yahoo!, Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, and more.
