Keep Calm and Carry On

BY JOHN TAPLEY

John Tapley is a Business Development Manager at Chart Industries with expertise in new business startup, innovative business growth and marketing strategies and digital/social media marketing. He has significant experience in all facets of the industrial gas industry, both domestic and global and can be reached at john. tapley@chartindustries. com and 470-332-4686. I t’s that time of year where we’re thinking and planning for the next one. But will the next one be anything like the last two? How can we feel confident in developing sales goals, building a business plan and understanding our marketing strategy if the chaos continues? Will there be more supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and continued variant fears? Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Sorry, I couldn’t resist throwing in that line from the Wizard of Oz paralleling the three fears. Are we listening through the fear, or can we tune it out and stay focused and on task? Maybe we haven’t been exactly here before, but the world has survived worse crises and come out stronger for it.

Decision making under pressure and in panic mode is not a good formula. Clear heads must prevail. So, while you’re looking ahead to next year and your favorite Starbucks is closed, the shelves at Kroger are bare, gas prices are up 50%, your shoe size hasn’t been on the shelf in forever, and on and on, it’s not easy to “keep calm and carry on.” A message made famous by the British government in advance of WWII, this is something we can all relate to today during these pandemic weary times. But the show must go on and smoother times will return, and my Starbucks will reopen. I once heard a Navy Seal use a quote by Robert Frost in explaining their mindset, “the only way out is through it” and he added on, there is always a way through, you just have to find it.

Adversity drives innovation, so you can imagine, with all the adversity we’ve been through the past two years, there are areas rich with innovation to overcome obstacles we continue to face. Here are a couple to consider and factor into your plans for the upcoming year.

INDUSTRY 4.0

If you haven’t heard, let me introduce you to Industry 4.0, the digital transformation in manufacturing and production and the value creation behind that. Think Tesla and the self-driving car comes to the shop floor. Smart manufacturing is here. Workers handle the exceptions and autonomous machines will handle the rest. Automation can be a beautiful thing when labor is scarce. And right in the heart of the industrial gas business is where AI is a good fit. Industry 4.0 in the world of metal working is driving change.

And in metal fab, one of the largest investments on the shop floor is a laser cutting system with an investment in the millions. And with that kind of cost, it best run as expected and at full capacity

onstream as called for. And, for obvious reasons, AI is top of mind among the big laser equipment manufacturers. Anything to reduce downtime with intelligent machines and well-trained workers to manage the exceptions if they do happen.

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS

Always evolving, sometimes more than we’d like, social media and, in particular, its impact on digital marketing, can be a guiding force navigating through challenges we continue to face, some we don’t even know about yet. New trends, like social audio apps and the metaverse are emerging because of the pandemic.

But we’ll confine our discussion here to the one social app that’s most used in a business setting, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is sometimes referred to as, “The Professional Social Network.” One of the areas that the business community will benefit from with significant labor shortages is remote recruitment. Although some will return to the office, the shift to remote work is here to stay in many cases and brings new challenges in recruiting. LinkedIn is unmatched in its ability to feature jobs for those searching and candidates for recruiters to matchup with. And, unique for the remote search, they have expanded their video tools with video conferencing as part of the messaging experience. Members can schedule video meetings without the need to download a client or sign up to any service.

And more to come for LinkedIn Stories which shutdown in September to be replaced with its next video project in 2022. The original Stories concept was to enable sharing of fun and quick video updates. The new version will include extended life beyond the 24 hours previously and the addition of more creative tools.

Stay tuned as LinkedIn continues to evolve and improve. There are many more features for the business community to leverage in your sales, marketing and business growth initiatives. And there are more initiatives to keep your focus on business strategies and looking ahead vs. the distractions of the pandemic we know will end eventually and escape back to our normal again.

When it’s all said and done, focus on being kind and do it with intention. Be nice, be genuine, smile at everyone you see, even if it’s through the mask. In the checkout line, pay attention to the name tag and say thank you using their name. Offer help when someone needs it. We may not be able to change the whole world but for the person in front of us, we can change their whole world with an act of kindness.

As you step off into the new year, new plan and new strategy, another bit of advice from our British friends, “mind the gap.”

One of the areas that the business community will benefit from with significant labor shortages is remote recruitment.