Learning to Pivot

“Will!”

Shera always spoke with an exclamation mark. It was one of the many reasons she was one of my favorite clients.

“Hey, Shera!”

Before I could ask her how things were in her world, she jumped right in—talking quickly.

“You’ll never believe what the last few weeks have been like for us! I’m sure maybe you would, you’re probably going through changes as well. It’s just that we’ve pivoted again, and we’re already off to the races, but of course, you’ve seen us pivot before and even helped us through it. Actually, we could use your help right now, which is good news for you, I guess! I thought when this crisis started, we might become stagnant, but we’re really just hitting our stride...”

She continued for a few more minutes, probably breaking some kind of record for not taking a breath between sentences.

I decided to break in. “Hold on! You’re pivoting again? Tell me about it!”

Pivoting is when a business changes its core business, typically to adapt to changes in the market. It was a very common strategy with startups, but very difficult for non-startups to embrace.

She laughed. “Oh, right, yeah! We’re pivoting again. We realized that in today’s market and probably after this crisis settles down, our customers will need something different than what we’re currently providing. We support salespeople! The sales process is changing!”

“But, your business is doing so well with the current offering, right?”

“It is, but that doesn’t mean it will be for long. We’re already starting to see a shift in signups, and our customer churn rate is increasing. The numbers are still good, but the signs are there. We need to change. And quickly.”

Churn rate often refers to the annual percentage rate that customers stop subscribing to your service (or stop being a customer).

She went on to explain the changes they’d be making, and they made sense. But what really impressed me was how comfortable she was making those changes.

“Was this one of those ideas you came up with on your long runs?” Shera was a long-distance runner and once told me she doesn’t run with headphones so that she can think. Many of her best ideas had come on runs.

“Nope, we asked everyone to brainstorm. One of our design team members came up with the idea. Everyone loved it, and now we’re off to the races!”

I was energized just listening to her. “That’s great, Shera!”

“Honestly, any company that isn’t taking a hard look at their business to spot where they might need to shift to retain customers now and in the future is missing a big opportunity.”

I made a note to talk to my leadership team about where we could make some productive changes.

“That’s so smart,” I said. “Now let’s talk about how we can help you with this pivot!”

“I was hoping you could!” Shera said.

I wasn’t expecting to get new business on this call, but Shera was always good for a few surprises.

Key point: During a crisis, look at leading indicators of what might be happening to your business. Try to get in front of major changes, and be willing to shift your business to survive. And always be looking to see if those changes are, in fact, necessary for your long-term success. Remember that every member of your team is a source of incredibly valuable perspective.