Sometimes things have to get shaken up before we recognize how life around us really works and who is behind making it all happen. Sometimes a crisis comes along and we wake from the slumber that we call "normal” life to realize that there are many people who work and serve us, oftentimes anonymously, to make our way of life happen. Until we are shaken awake by something like a major disruption in life, we take them all for granted.

I am a small business owner. We provide marketing services for our clients. I have a philosophy about the way we go about serving our customers: until we can walk beside them, we will never understand them. What exactly does that mean? For me, it means that I have to show up at their workplace to have an understanding of what they do. It is not just a matter of being able to describe their products and services, but also the intangibles behind the way they go about their business. What does quality mean to them? What measures do they use to assure they are meeting customer demands? That has led me to some very interesting places with a variety of personalities. From the construction of a pipeline 200 feet underground to the manufacturing floor of F-1 racers, from the processing of potatoes into potato chips to the production of highly sophisticated pharmaceuticals, what I have learned about every single client is there are people behind the scenes that can make or break the credibility of every company. I can market their company’s brand and tell their customers they are the greatest at what they do. However, it all falls back on those behind the scenes people. If they are doing their job, the brand thrives. If not, problems start to surface and their clients begin to cast aspersions on them.

We are learning some of those lessons right now. Products we normally would find in plentiful supply are scarce. Why? The supply chain has been broken. From manufacturing to packaging to warehousing to ordering to shipping to unloading and stocking of products, if just one job is taken away from this equation, we all feel the impact. Shelves in grocery stores that are stocked around the clock are empty by mid-morning. Businesses we normally count on are closed. People we rely on are not working right now. What should you do? From a very personal point of view, make it a point to thank those behind-the-scenes people who go to work and contribute to our wellbeing and comfort. That may mean giving a highway worker the thumbs up or it may mean tipping the person stocking the shelves at your local store. Even if you don’t do anything tangible, it should most definitely mean that you show respect to everyone who is holding a job to contribute to our society, regardless of their position.

From a marketing perspective, make a point of giving kudos to the people behind the scenes. Here are a couple of suggestions. First, help them understand their importance to the credibility of your brand. So many people think it does not matter whether they do a good job or not, but that is a falsehood. Everything is connected. (Do you think it matters how a business is cleaned right now? It is of worldwide importance!) Secondly, tell the story of the people who make it all happen. People like to be told they are doing a good job when they work hard. Why not let your customers know about those people who make things run for you? This is a very marketable idea, especially right now because we are all living out the consequences of the back room jobs going unfulfilled.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to shake me up before I recognize what is important in life. How about you?