CV Crisis Chronicle: April 9: In 2020 plan A is out the window, plan B is taking shape, also consider sketching out plan C and plan D.

This is a series of articles from emails that we were sending out to clients and friends as the CV Crisis developed. Hope it is helpful for others and also provides a historical context as we all reacted and learned about the seriousness of this virus.

Dear Reader,

In the last 3 weeks we have been busy creating 2020 Plan B's for our current clients, quite a few past clients and friends, one of whom made us laugh by saying:

"When the Sh*t hits the fan you call Sanders..."

Plan B's aren't long and drawn out, they are sketches because things are so real time while our country appears to be balancing several things.

• Will the virus keep us out of business longer than expected?
• Will the virus reduce our business once we are reopening?
• Can we actually trust the federal government to get enough money to us in time?
• Will our financial obligations like rent, electricity, insurance cut us some slack?
• Do we really have to keep all our employees?
• Most of this is inward stuff which we know can get us out of tune with our customers.

Here is what the frameworks have looked like.

• Serve your customers with consistent and relevant information (stay in your area of expertise)
• Create spreadable communication via email and the social channels you understand
• If you have two channels for distribution consider and one of them is now a dormant wholesale channel, see if you can help them (see below for example)
• Think how your business can serve other businesses throughout 2020 and ask your customers and vendors to help you get through 2020.
• It is almost like how in a car race they all go around the track slowly together after an accident before they start racing again.
• 2020 appears to be a year where we are going to just be happy to be going slowly around the track.
• If all of this is Plan B, then make sure you have a Plan C and D in your back pocket. (see below)
• Panera Bread is now Delivery Groceries! Talk about a great PLAN B

Below is an example of some thinking that came out of us helping a winery, we also thought through solutions for a coffee roaster, a brewery, several RIA's, a software company, and a AgTech company.

Plan B Sketches are free for 2020, so if you want a verbal sparring partner while you navigate the craziest year of your life, just call me at 510-246-1446

Drew

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Don,

Good conversation yesterday, here are some scenarios for you to consider.

March took our plan A for 2020 and threw it out the window, most of us now have some sort of plan B framed up.

• Plan B's are mostly focused on getting through 2020 and next year will be back to normal.
• Seems like your Plan B is:
• Your commercial customers come back, you built a stronger connection with your wine club and you get back to worrying about making a great wine and maybe you memorialize it with a special 2020 logo.
• There is a bunch of work to be done to get that inventory out the door to save the lost revenue from commercial and the tasting room.

Plan C & D contemplate other issues popping up and really looking at how you survive/thrive with new customer segments and new social gathering realities. 

• What if we get more health scares (like aftershocks from earthquakes) and restaurants close again,more SIP's?
• Will the wine tasting world stay slow for 18 months?
• What if that commercial customer becomes only 30% and stays there?

Is there a way to have your plan B activities align with plan C or D realities?

• For your business Plan C or D appear to be all about building a relationship with your avid's and getting some fresh faces to interact with your customers in Video's and pairing it with recipes like the ones on your website. 
• Not sure if your wife wants to become Julia Child or if you want to become a youtube star, but you can hire people to be those personalities for you if you want and your company owns the content.
• For example it appears the DTC world has a lot going for it within a Plan B world.
• You get the wine club list to double and you get your avid's to soak up the inventory to support you in this time of need and everyone has a nice dinner together.
• Maybe your commercial customers could make some $$ by being a sales rep for your list while they are shut down? (min order is x cases and you handle the shipping so they don't deal with inventory)
• What comes with the wine club is the monthly recipe and the video of it being cooked. 
• What comes with the wine club is the inside scoop on how the wine is made, from vineyard to tank to bottle to decanted to swirled to tasted and perfectly paired.
• It seems like shipping logistics are changing and for the better, the link to track my wine from your company was excellent. 

Funny side note:

• We have been making Sunday's "exploratory learning days" for everyone.
• After online church each one of us picks a topic and learns about it and then shares with the family that night after dinner what they learned.
• I picked PodCasting.
• One of the main things they teach you in PodCasting 101 is that you go to the popular categories and then address a niche within that category. 
• For example I have been writing about Endurance throughout this SIP.
• Leadership is a huge category in PodCasting
• So my Podcast could build off the writing I have been doing on how Endurance is a key for leading through times of trial or something like that. 

What this could mean for you:

• You probably already know the huge customer segments for your business, and talk about it with your commercial customers a certain way.
• But in a plan C and plan D world, how would that change?
• How could you take a niche and start to spread inside those big consumer categories like women in their 40's who like rombauer or men in their 50's who drink big cabs etc. 
• It kind of falls under the category, "Yesterday's brand is today's niche"

What really changes is how you live your life.

• You were on planes and had fewer customers and it kept the family fed.
• Wonder if you can capture a personal relationship with the national audience through your commercial relationships here in 2020 and turn it into long term gold for the company and that commercial relationship.
• One thing about people from NY that can buy your wine.
• They do like to visit Napa Valley....which will happen eventually. 

So that is where my brain went at 5am 

Talk soon,

Drew