So, how’s the whole hybrid thing going for you?
Missing the power of being in a customer environment?
Missing having the opportunity to bring people into a meeting or say a quick hi?
Or, as we have all done in the past, seeing a supplier and thinking ‘I need to talk to them’.
In truth, it was always likely that a mix of work from home and work from the office would fit the bill for some but not others.
And it seems our experience of the last six months has shown that to be the case.
In short, it was never about all or nothing.
And – thanks to tech – it has been proven that ‘hybrid’ can mean pretty much whatever we want it to mean.
“For me, hybrid working is about creating a truly differentiating culture that is valued by our people AND our customers,” says Paul Gibbs, Director of Sales at UK-based hosted telephony provider MyPhones, which is deeply-invested in getting the balance right.
“That means leveraging BOTH sides of the coin. Of course, the ability to work from home has drastically improved everyone’s work-life balance, which in turn has increased productivity not reduced it.
“But the physical office experience is vital too, as is the face-to-face meeting with partners and customers.
“The challenge AND the opportunity lies in getting that blend right on an organisation-by-organisation basis.”
Interestingly, Gibbs himself has this month spent several days back on the road; completing a series of face-to-face meetings with partners, customers and prospects all over the UK.
He says the rediscovery of face-to-face interaction has been a welcome step in the hybrid journey for him AND those with whom he met.
“I think it’s really important to foster whatever type of relationship a customer or partner wants,” he says.
“Recently, more and more emails in my inbox are concluding with the sign-off line: ‘Happy to meet face-to-face’.
“The reality is that many of those emailers are actually seeking a face-to-face but of course want to simultaneously continue to offer an online option.
“Over the past several months I have been in email and virtual conversation with an important new prospect.
“Things had been going well but slowly. Then one day he suddenly said: ‘Why don’t we just get together and get this deal done.’
“A week later, that’s exactly what had happened.
“It shows the power of physical interaction and, for me, it shows precisely why everyone needs to get their own preferred hybrid model right.”
Customer and partner face-to-face site visits in particular offer high value returns on investment.
The ability to interact physically with multiple contacts or entire teams – even for just a quick coffee and a catch-up – can make a significant difference to the depth of any relationship.
So it is with hybrid working – that oh-so-topical post-pandemic conundrum with which enterprises large and small are slowly getting to grips.
It was always likely that a mix of work from home and work from the office would fit the bill for some but not others.
Throw an occasional lunch, dinner, game of tennis or round of golf into the mix and those important relationships can really sing.
“Of course, that was all pre-pandemic,” says Gibbs.
“But my recent experience actually visiting people has told me that people miss it.
“Teams or Zoom or whatever other video conferencing platform you use have been and will continue to be brilliant.
“Add a little human contact back in and I think the hybrid world will serve us all amazingly well.”
From the technological point of view, that of course means sharp focus on cloud-based softphone solutions that enable us to function anywhere at any time in exactly the same way as when we are in the office.
Integrate Microsoft Teams with MyPhones’ powerful and super-user-friendly hosted telephony platform, for example, and an organisation is really leveraging the potential for hybrid working to transform its fortunes.
In the meantime, maybe the time is right to begin scheduling some coffees, as well as some calls…
To find out more about how MyPhones can help you, your customers and your customers’ customers thrive post-pandemic, visit www.myphones.com
