We’re understaffed, the lead time is double what it used to be, a new fuel surcharge will be added, no longer in business. These are just some of the things we have been hearing on a regular basis as we’ve emerged from COVID. First and foremost, our condolences to the many businesses who have suffered greatly because of this terrible pandemic – especially those who are no longer open.
After over a decade in this business and industry, one thing that set us apart from others was our playbook – our rolodex – our network.When we started Moment back in 2011 – we set out do things differently. We re-invented the way agencies estimate and bill, we abandoned the idea of unpaid internships, we picked fair pay over churn and burn, and those are just a few of the things that make us different (re: better). One of the biggest things we did, was write a playbook – keeping records of costs for items in various markets, documenting vendor costs YOY, and generally tracking all items that can impact a client’s budget.
Well, throw that out the window, because COVID has changed everything. We are seeing significant variance between markets and notable cost increases in just about everything. On top of the increased costs, we are seeing massive increases in lead times – especially for items coming from overseas. Lastly, shipping and logistics nightmares continue to pile up – with shipments being held at customs, FedEx/UPS flat out losing packages, and items not arriving on time. Services we once relied on are just not reliable anymore.
So, how do we deal with it? Relationships.
What? We are crutching on trusted partners that we have forage relationships with over the years to bring things to life. We are informing clients early of the challenges facing this industry. Quite frankly, we are doing what we have always done – be honest. Setting expectations early, managing disappointment, and owning up to our (and our vendor’s) mistakes. At times this has hurt our margin, but we know this will pass and we are simply never willing to hurt our reputation.