On lockdown - what now? A message for RANZ Members from RANZ CEO, Graham Moor, on 26/3/20. 

 

Hi All,

That day has arrived - we're on lockdown now - and this is our lives for at least the next four weeks.

Some of you will be wondering what to do at all, others may have plenty of ideas and will be trying to decide what to do next.

Wherever you're at, give yourselves a chance to adjust to this new setting and sort out how you'll make it all work - with your family (or others close) and self first obviously - your strict lockdown "bubble" of contacts. This is an extreme and unprecedented time and we've all had to make a huge change very quickly - take a moment to settle in to that.

With regards to business matters, what could be a helpful exercise in this adjustment period also is spending some time reflecting and clearing your minds of all that normally clutters it. Write down your clutter so that you can address it over the next four weeks - this does present a unique opportunity to address things soon (but maybe not right now).

We will come out the other side of this and why not take the chance available to assess and position ourselves and our businesses for our future.

There are some considerations that need to be attended to soon, and we'll help guide you through these in due course. Here's a heads up on some of them below, but please note, we will be covering these areas and others in more depth from next week - 

Our businesses need customers. Make sure you choose wisely. Which ones do you want to keep? Do some back costing and understand where your best profits come from, while being open-minded also, anticipating how things could change and where the opportunities may lie ahead.

Communicate with your customers so that you can both plan what you will be doing when we start again. Talk with your forward work customers. This is marketing 101. Explain to them what you do know. You will have some supply chain problems. What those will be we don’t know yet. Timelines will have moved significantly. Politely follow up on quotes. Roofing might not be a priority as people reassess their situations.

Talk with your accountant to understand what corrections you will need to make. Yes there are some tough decisions coming for some.

If you are out there doing essential work be careful that you do not price gouge. This is prohibited, plus the key board warriors will crucify you. Conversely, if you look after those people it will be some of the best marketing you can do.

That will do for starters. We will keep communicating with you. Remember to breathe and get some exercise.

Follow the Government’s requirements. We will get through this - together.

 

Stay Safe, Stay Well.