TIP #1
Drop Your Guard.

“One thing that disconnects people is fear of exposure. The best way to reestablish a relationship with the customer is to share a little bit about yourself, what you’ve been through the last two years, your background, and the background of your team,” Hawkins says.

“This is not selling something. It’s saying, ‘We are here, and this is what it’s been like’” coping with the pandemic.

HOW TO RECONNECT: Indulge in personal banter.

Take a cue from Polen Capital CEO Stan Moss, who commissioned a book of deeply personal staff profiles and shared it internally to build a culture of trust, camaraderie, and connection. Hawkins advises ECPs go a step further and share personal stories with patients face to face and online.

“It’s great to say, ‘I got super fit’ or ‘I got a dog,’ but it’s not bad to share some things that went wrong,” Hawkins shares. “It’s powerful when it’s not always super positive, like, ‘Hey, I gained 10 pounds.’”

TIP #2
Forage for Feedback.

“It’s uncomfortable to get negative feedback, but feedback is incredibly valuable because it’s the only information we have on how we can effectively change,” Hawkins says.

Fear of bad reviews leads some to ignore them. “The natural response is ‘Can I hide it? Can I pay someone to have that taken down?’” That’s a mistake.

HOW TO RECONNECT: Interact with reviews in a meaningful way. Detail how you’ll resolve a problem. “That’s going to be a cue to everyone who reads it that a) this business cares and b) they’re paying attention and listening to us,” Hawkins says. “When people see what they’re saying has an impact, it builds trust and connections for the first time, and maybe a reconnection.”

TIP #3
Reflect + Project.

Reconnect with your mission to reconnect with people, Hawkins says.

A mission provides the North Star to align activities and show customers you mean it. Not everyone will love your mission. They will go elsewhere, and that’s risky.

“But for every one of those, you will have 10 who say, ‘My doctor is doing something incredible here with a purpose important to me,’” Hawkins says. These will become loyal patients who refer others.

HOW TO RECONNECT: “The tactical piece is to start living true to your mission,” says Hawkins. “Do things so customers see this is what your business is about and here is what you’re doing to back it up.”

A mission is not providing a service for a fee; a mission addresses a broader human concern.

Take Patagonia, whose mission is to “Save Our Home Planet.” Upon learning that the presence of corporate logos shortens the life span of clothes and fast-tracks them to landfills, in conflict with its mission, Patagonia closed that business last year.

Promotional wear isn’t a desirable hand-me-down, and employees retire logoed apparel prematurely once they join another employer. Though demand for logoed fleece vests was robust (nicknamed the “midtown uniform” in the fintech sector), Patagonia prioritized product life span in line with its sustainability mission. Consumers rejoiced.