As far as technology goes, working from home during these times is no problem for LinQuake. Communication with our clients already largely took place online, as did a large part of our documentation. But of course we miss each other as colleagues, so we do hope that this situation won’t last much longer. For our colleague Pieter the current situation is the talk of the day in his communications with our clients. Here is what he writes about it:
Is everyone in your company also working from home? And how are you liking it? I often ask these questions in the conversations I currently have with our clients. Sometimes it leads to amusing reflections on the new way of working in the presence of small children. Sometimes the conversations don’t go quite as smoothly because one of those children asks for attention. Despite all the comical videos I receive about the seemingly tough and delicate relationships between partners at home, none of the people I talk to have anything negative to say about it. So luckily I have not heard any concealed, desperate cries for help.
Of course, we also talk a lot about the corona crisis from a business point of view. Many clients are struggling, but remain positive. Everybody considers this a temporary situation. However, there are large differences between different sectors. Anything related to food, DIY, trees and plants, and furniture is doing better than before the crisis, which is plausible. But a client of ours who deals in all sorts of epoxy has also seen a strong increase in his sales, although he has no idea why. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a logical explanation.
What strikes me is that our clients all have a unique way of responding to tougher times. For example, I spoke one client who told me that he postponed his ambitions to go international. His sales decreased by about 50% and he therefore had other things on his mind. In the next conversation, a different client also painted a similar picture about his sales; they dropped by 50% as well. However, his response was: ‘Pieter, it seems I now have no other choice than to quickly broaden my markets and fully commit to internationalisation.’ Obviously I completely agreed with that. Business in the Netherlands will turn out all right.
Pieter Cramer
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