That oh no moment: Sudden travel restrictions and border closures were not what anyone had expected to kick off the high season for 2020. As technology providers and experts in efficiency, we knew we had to adapt, and fast. One of our core values played a crucial part in this transition, and that was to ‘be agile,’ so we really had no excuse not to practice what we preach.

Practicing what we preach: Within two weeks, 100% of our company was working remotely, our office was empty, and many of our international staff had returned home and were working from more than seven different countries across Europe. Thanks to the nature of our business, we were able to adapt quickly, but we were worried about what this was going to mean for customers and movers alike as their challenge was a lot more complicated than ours.

Isolation, disconnect and lack of inspiration: In addition to our core values, we also got lucky as the average age in our company is mid-20s, which makes for a very motivated and fast-paced group of people, eager to solve the problem. Working from home did come with its own challenges, though. Isolation, disconnection and lack of inspiration were prevalent, especially amongst our colleagues who lived alone and those confined to their small loft, studio apartment, parents’ house, or bedroom—we knew we had to do something!

The new focus must be FUN, and this is what we did:

• FRIDAY ‘FRI-YAYS’: Perhaps self-explanatory. Every Friday someone within the team arranged online drinks and games. Often the company would send out surprise drinks packages and prizes to winning teams. It remains part of our weekly plan to this day, and it rotates between colleagues, giving everyone a chance to show their creative and competitive side!

• TriGlobal ‘CRIBS’: Working from home was the new norm, so what better way than to put your home (or room) on show! Inspired by the MTV Cribs TV series, we got a hilarious insight into how our ‘professional colleagues’ live and what they love to do in their spare time.

• [Online] Escape rooms: is there anything better than feeling part of a team and getting your competitive vibes flowing again? This certainly helped the team to bond again.

• [Online] Yoga: Working from home meant no more daily commutes, no more coffee machine runs and no more lunch-time shopping. It also meant the dreaded corona kilos were upon us. So, to get us moving again, we implemented weekly online yoga workouts that still take place today.

What did Covid mean for online customer behavior?

The news of Covid sparked a type of crazy in customer behavior. The data changed almost overnight, and even before most governments had announced any new measures, we knew that things were serious. In some countries the leads dropped rapidly, while others exploded with new requests to move. These months were very difficult to navigate as we wanted to ensure that if we sent a mover a lead, that the lead request could ultimately be fulfilled (i.e., would not be affected by border closures). We were forced to reduce our business drastically and build it back up slowly once we were certain that movers could move again.

It took about six months to get the leads back to a stable condition. Since then, we have been very pleased with the results in that the number of leads we’re now receiving has in fact exceeded the numbers from previous years, which is good news for moving companies!

Our Moving Partners

From a business-to-business perspective, we also needed to find a new way to connect with our moving partners as there were no more conferences and no more client visits. In the initial months, we made it our goal to connect via video call with as many movers as we could, to see if they were doing okay and explain what we were noticing from our data.

These proactive connections strengthened our relationships and even increased the business between us. We felt that it was important to learn more about what challenges they were facing, and if there were ways we could innovate and find a solution for them.

Pain helps us to innovate!

During Covid, we had to rebuild and change our processes, which taught us a lot about customer behavior. This led to an important innovation. In January of this year, we released the Conversion Tools, which are a new solution for movers that help them to become their own lead generators. In essence, movers get access to a customizable online Contact Form, Volume Calculator, and Instant Pricing tool, so they can increase the leads they get from their own website.

Looking forward

If you had asked us a year ago where the industry would be today, I’m not sure we’d have been so optimistic. But today, we see a bright future for the industry, and we think that Covid has been a small blessing in disguise for many companies, including ours. Being in survival mode has pushed everyone to be critical about their efficiency, processes, and technology, which we all needed.

That said, there is no replacing good old human contact. We’re happy we still get to connect with the YP community via webinars, but there’s really nothing better than seeing all of you in person. We cannot wait to see you (in person) in Orlando!