AROUND THE REGIONS —
Inside our BDM Bubbles As you would have all experienced, life during COVID-19 lockdown was a bit different to what we previously considered as normal. In this article our New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Business Development Managers (BDM’s) share a little about their experiences and challenges encountered over this period.
AUCKLAND
South Island BDM, Nick Matthews
Auckland BDM, Andrew Macdonald
SOUTH
For me life in “lockdown” was not any different from any other time of the year, apart from having my wife and three boys at home during the day.
Working from my high-rise apartment in Auckland’s CBD, basking in a view of the Auckland harbour, I observed a notably quiet city centre with an occasional police siren as police officers pulled over drivers enforcing lockdown protocols of Alert Level 4.
Finding a balance between work, home schooling, feeding time at the zoo and limiting screen time was interesting. Thankfully however, the weather was fine, and Christchurch had picture-perfect autumn days for getting outside to enjoy some family exercise.
My normal acquisition process for liaising with potential members is a face-to-face engagement and this had to be adapted to selling membership over the phone and via email. With this new approach came new challenges and sometimes it could become quite time-consuming acquiring new membership.
Not being able to travel and physically meet with people was an adjustment for me, however the use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams meant I was able to keep in regular contact with members and work colleagues from National Support Office. I continued to keep busy with membership enquires and it seemed many non-aligned builders were using the lockdown period to think about their business model and the advantages that a trade association can offer to their business.
To help with some of these challenges I took some time to upskill and learn how to use various online programmes and apps such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. These new learnings allowed me to communicate and participate in online regional educational events such as the Auckland LBP training day, acquisition meetings and meetings with work colleagues at our National Support Office. A standout observation for me during this time was after making many calls to members and non-members there was a big change in the conversation I was having. Everybody had more time to talk and conversations were longer than normal and more straight up, and that is what I love about dealing with people in our industry.
It was reassuring to hear the response I received from potential new members when asked why they wanted to join our Association and what they wanted from their membership. Their response was “I need access to accurate information and support from a trusted organisation. This confirmed to me, it is the subtle things NZCB offer that make a difference. The impact COVID-19 has had on our industry, the wider community and our nation has been a new experience for us all. And, as we come out of lockdown and return to site, we enter new territory learning to adjust to new government protocols whilst being mindful of taking small bites of the ‘elephant’ so as to not over commit yourselves. If we can all commit to this, it will help protect all our families, staff and their families. My normal way of signing off my article is to say “See you in the regions” but this time I’ll simply say…”Stay Safe!”
30
