As they say, in every crisis lies an opportunity. We have to admit that even though the pandemic flipped our daily lives upside down, it also forced us to explore new ways of working. Marco Bérubé, president of Mobux, embraced this change to get his firm through the pandemic with flying colours. Interview.
During our 1 p.m. phone call on Monday afternoon, the president of the digital marketing firm Mobux confided in me that he was already on his sixth meeting of the day!
Glancing down at his schedule, he told me that he had four more meetings with colleagues and customers before the end of the day.
“I’ve been my most productive since the start of the pandemic, admitted Marco Bérubé. When I think about all of the time that I used to spend commuting to meetings with customers and teaching training seminars before the pandemic…”
As many businesses were forced to switch over to working from home (because of lockdowns), the digital marketing advisor can still make sales pitches and teach training seminars from the comfort of his Beloeil headquarters.
Larger customer base
Working remotely allowed the firm to score contracts from all over Québec. They landed two contracts in Lanaudière after offering an online training seminar for entrepreneurs in collaboration with SADC Matawinie and are also currently negotiating the details of a contract for a customer in Gaspésie.
After six months of working remotely, the digital marketing consultant doesn’t buy into the belief that it’s harder to connect and engage with others virtually.
“I think it’s actually the opposite! I find that people are a lot more focused during virtual meetings. You know that you don’t have eight hours of their time, so you get straight to the point. You are face-to-face with your audience and it’s easy for them to follow along with PowerPoint presentations using screen sharing. When I teach live training seminars, I feel as though I have everyone’s full attention.”
However, the president of Mobux admits that’s he had to make adjustments along the way through trial and error. During his first few online training seminars, he would get distracted by all of the notifications popping up from different apps. The solution? The mute button.
Another silver lining of the pandemic: Marco Bérubé discovered a whole new pool of potential candidates. Of the four latest additions to his team since the beginning of the pandemic, only one lives in Québec and works for the firm part-time.
Using Zoom in a new way
Like many other marketing firms, Mobux had already incorporated several collaborative tools into their daily operations before the pandemic. The Beloeil-based firm used Slack as an internal messaging platform, Asana to assign project-related tasks and Harvest for tracking hours. The pandemic just accentuated how heavily they had to rely on these tools.
And then Zoom entered the mix. Marco Bérubé uses Zoom to meet with his customers, make sales pitches and lead training seminars. He also recently found a new and creative way to use Zoom internally. He started recording instructions and briefs for his team members using Zoom’s video capture function.
“In the morning, I usually start work very early. I record my brief and then the employee can watch it whenever they like. If they have any questions, they can email or contact me directly.”
But don’t you risk losing touch with your team? To that, the president replied that Mobux always makes time for team check-ins.
Team meetings are scheduled every Monday to set the objectives and priorities for the week ahead, and every Wednesday before lunch, the team plans a joint working session where everyone focuses on the task at hand.
Gradual return to the workplace
The firm re-opened its doors in September with social distancing measures in place. Marco and his assistant work in the office full-time. However, the rest of the team will return gradually, depending on their tasks and personal needs.
It’s on a case-by-case basis. For example, one employee has continued to work from home to protect a high-risk family member.
This arrangement seems to work for everyone and has allowed the firm to thrive. Mobux scored 4 solid commitments out of their last 6 pitches… not a bad batting average!
