This isn’t going to be a blog post about how to have professional zoom sales meetings. It’s a glimpse into how a sales team in Seattle, amidst the covid-19 quarantine pandemic, is staying connected and keeping things fun and light hearted during an incredibly dark and trying time.
Today marked our 2nd weekly sales team zoom call in quarantine. Our team of almost 50 people were sent to work from home Thursday, March 5th. Scattered all around the greater Seattle area, we are working from our kitchen counters, our home offices, our living rooms. I mean if I’m being honest, some of us are probably working from our beds or even a lawn chair outside with no one around us for at least six feet. I’ve personally worked from almost every room in my home with the exception of the bathroom. Well, and my son’s room. He’s 23, is also stuck at home with me due to a compromised immune system, and is acting like his new job is to video game all day. My dogs are driving me insane and tearing things apart to get my attention. Maybe I should work out of my bathroom just to get some time alone? This could be a very long few months.
The KING 5 Sales team is not your average media sales team. If you’ve ever seen video or photos of our holiday cubicle decorating contest or our Halloween costume contests, then you’ll quickly understand what I mean. We are a group of high functioning, creative, over-achievers, that give 150% and are extremely competitive inside and outside of the office. And we like each other. I mean we really, really like each other. Even when we don’t like each other, we like each other. That’s just the kind of team we are.
Why is that you may wonder? We are incredibly passionate about our brand, our company culture, finding solutions for our clients, and most importantly, how KING 5 helps our communities all over the greater western Washington region. If you haven’t seen our Facts Not Fear Coronavirus coverage, I encourage you to check it out here.
It is yet to be determined what our new normal is going to look like. It feels like things are changing on a daily basis so rapidly, that just as you finish digesting the events of one singular day, the next day, before you’ve even had a chance to catch your breath, it changes again. Overwhelming doesn’t quite capture what is happening here in Seattle, ground zero in the US, and all over the world.
To add some levity to our sales meeting, it was decided this week we would all wear funny hats. We never met a costume challenge we didn’t like. The meeting itself is serious. There is so much going on and we all have questions. We have empathy for our clients who’s businesses are struggling or even going out of business. The intense desire to help feels just out of reach and it’s critical we figure out the right way to help. Our clients are not just clients to us. We genuinally care about their wellbeing and putting together the right solutions for them. Our hearts go out to the rest of our co-workers in the news, digital, social media, IT, and marketing departments that are working tirelessly to keep hours of local content on the air. It’s all a little overwelming. We are in uncharted territory. None of us have been through anything like this. But one thing is certain. We are in it together. And today we were in it together wearing funny hats.
We didn’t solve the worlds problems today. We talked about our challenges. We talked about our wins and our losses. We talked about the 2020 Summer Olympics, our ratings, and attribution successes of some of our clients. And we did it while wearing funny hats, giving us each the little chuckle that we needed to get through this week. Because this week has been the longest year of our lives and we know it’s not over yet.
If your business needs help figuring out how to market during a difficult time I hope you will contact us. We may not have all of the answers as we all figure out the new normal. But we do lots of options across many platforms to match your brands with the right consumers at the right times, and we do it all with a lot of heart.
