It’s been 7 months since all our lives have been clouded with the pandemic. When we conducted Clientjoy Agency Summit, our core mission of helping 100K agencies grow, fulfil and earn acted was our guiding spirit. Hence, Jay Mandel, the founder of  The Collective NYC got together with us for a session, addressing the need of the hour and discussed with us ‘How Agencies Can Navigate Through Difficult Times’.

Jay quoted several instances from his life and spoke about the ways one can conquer through the difficult times.

While facing a set back in life, what should one do?

Find Your Ikigai

You might have often come across this word- ‘Ikigai’. Do you know what it means?

Ikigai is a famous Japanese concept which means ‘a reason for being’. It refers to having a purpose or direction in life.

It is a combination of these factors:

• What is it that you love?
• Find out what you are good at?
• What can you be paid for?
• Do your research and find out what is it that the world needs?

When you have the answers to all of these and you find something that combines, you will have the answer that guides your purpose in life.

For agencies, it is crucial to figure out how they can:

Adapt To Change:

This may sound cliched, but the only thing constant is ‘change’. To keep up with the fast-changing world, businesses today need to adapt to change. In order to beat the pandemic, agencies will now have to adopt changes such as remote working, shifting to digitalization and more.

Build A Digital Infrastructure:

With the shift to digitalisation, agencies need to build a solid digital infrastructure. After deciding on their operations and functions, agencies need to make sure if they have the proper digital infrastructure to do so.

Focus On The Social Needs:

While the whole world strives to beat the pandemic, it is very important for agencies to acknowledge the fact that we all have undergone tremendous changes in our ways of living and working. The world we knew before does not exist in the same way now. In order to truly resonate with the audience, agencies need to figure out what is it that the world currently needs and where they can fit in to provide.

From Idea To Action

In order to overcome the situation and be able to beat the pandemic, your agency will need to work on a solid idea.

Here’s how you can do that:

Idea

• Focus on listening to the market- what does the market need?
• What are you starting? – Does it align with your strategies and vision?
• Does the crisis help you see things you may have not seen before? – Are you able to find an opportunity gap and think of a solution?

Action

• Find a purpose- direct your actions towards fulfilling it.
• Figure out a way – Find a utilitarian way to implement your plan.
• Create an impact – Think of the greater good and do things for that.

Key Learnings:

• When everything is uncertain, everything that is important becomes clear!
• As a brand, we will have to add values and be relevant in today’s time. That will only help us to build trust in the current pandemic that we are in and the future.
• Recessions are painful, but the extensions are powerful.
• Right after the recession, the growth starts and if we compare the last 4-5 recessions, we have seen tremendous growth in the coming few years of each crisis.

About Jay Mandel

Mr Jay Mandel is a Columbia University graduate and currently working as a Founder, Marketer, Coach, Professor, and Advisor at The Collective NYC. With his enriching work experience at firms such as IBM and Mastercard, Mr Mandel now leads and exceptional journey at The Collective NYC.  

Check out what the audience discussed: