Having covered a bit of this in recent blogs, a recent article caught my eye that highlighted to me that many sectors (as we knew) did not know how to adjust and adapt to this new way of working with the pandemic.

In short. The methods before are not as effective anymore. COVID and WFH have moved the goalposts.

• No meetings
• No one in the office
• No face to face
• No exhibitions or conferences
• No email replies as circumstances change

You can't just "Pick up the phone and start dialling" anymore. They are WFH and busy. 

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Suddenly you cannot get a hold of the audience and prospects and even clients that you were getting hold of before pre-COVID.

The article I read covered by SLATOR says COVID exposed the gap between LSPs (Language Service Providers) and the client.

This was discussed and blogged by Jaime Punishill - Chief Marketing Officer at Lionbridge. The link below to the article. 👇

COVID exposed digital marketing gap between LSPs and client 

He goes on to explain that the language services industry has fallen behind the marketing and digital sophistication of it clients, he points out.

Lionbridge seems to be adapting to the digital transformation change and are on the journey, but many others are not.

Quote "We are, as an industry, the cobbler whose child has bad shoes"

He also points out 4 key reasons behind this deficit.

An LSPs digital presence is likely much weaker than the clients

Marketing sophistication is also weaker

An LSP spends a much lower percentage of revenue than a client would

The industry is generally not in sync with today's B2B omnichannel buying journey

A great understanding of how the landscape looks across the US, UK and further afield.

The insight is interesting for sure as this is a Billion $$$$ industry with untapped potential and growth.

But, if you are not seen and not relevant in how you approach your clients or prospects now, you are going to be left behind.

Digital transformation is a long word and takes time and commitment to implement.

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Then you have to get it working and the process right across various business functions.

Not easy if you do not know-how. 

It is strategic and works across culture, people, technology and operations.

The buyer's journey has changed and is changing every year. This is part of getting social.

This is where we have been going for years. And the pandemic only heightened the need for change and urgency.

What was going to be normal in 2025 is now happening in 2021.

I and others far more experienced in the social selling space have been working with our clients and prospects on this very subject and transforming them and their teams within the business to change to a new and improved way of working.

 This strategic social selling change helps in a few ways.

Trusted advisor

Network and community growth

Buyer centric content

Knowledge share and interest

Lead Generation & Pipeline

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This is not just about the LSP sector and translation and localisation partners and business, this is about change across multiple sectors that have taken a hard look at what has happened and how they are going to adjust to a new style and strategic way of navigating the complex B2B journey as we stand.

It is not all bad. It is not anyone's fault that this pandemic happened.

But what happens next….. Well, that may be up to businesses and the people.

If you have thought about digital transformation or the social shift, but wondered how you get there?

Then just ask me and the wider social team.

Enjoy Friday and then the weekend.

Kevin

#socialselling #digitaltransformation #buyercentric #sales #marketing #community #translation #l10n #business #creativity