2020 is not shaping up to the way we thought it might be, right?
The economy was robust, unemployment rates were historically low among all sectors, and our CE business was strong…that is until Hurricane COVID-19 decided to make landfall.
I first heard about COVID-19 while half-listening to a talk show on TV while playing Candy Crush. Images of Chinese residents having their temperatures taken on a subway by seemingly fearful hospital workers covered in apocalyptic gear. Crazy? Yah probably, that was some 7,000 miles away and some two months and change ago.
But wait, as the story goes, the virus grew, and more and more people were afflicted with this deadly foreign disease. Now, not only were Chinese residents being affected but people from South Korea, Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany…and so on and so on. The virus was not just happening in China.
By the time it made its entry into the US, thousands and thousands of people had already died from this lethal disease, and this was just the beginning for us.
As a small business owner, I immediately had concerns about the ramifications it could have on our company if this grew into a nationwide crisis.
What would we do if producers couldn’t attend our classes because the classes needed to be canceled?
What would happen if insurance producers and financial professionals were affected themselves?
Our strategy needed to change and fast.
Since then, we have implemented some changes to help insurance producers and financial professionals obtain Continuing Education while assisting them to help their communities:
- Starting immediately, producers will be able to take the remainder of March and all of April’s classes via webinars. All our webinars are already considered to be classroom credit, so there was no need to change the reporting of credits to respective states.
- For the people that are not familiar with the webinar process with us, we have created an online self-study class on “How to take a WebEx webinar with Community Educators.” This webinar consists of three simple and easy to follow chapters outlining the webinar process – what you will see, what to look for during the webinar, and FAQ’s answered.
- Lastly, we are donating a portion of all sales from now to the end of April to the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross has a severe shortage of blood due to the COVID-19 outbreak right now. If you can donate, please got to www.redcross.org and schedule an appointment this week to donate blood.
The COVID-19 outbreak may bring us some considerable uncertainty in the coming days and months, but we are all in this together.
We believe one day we will look back at this time as a time of learning.
Brandi Brecht, Executive Director – Community Educators LLC
Learning about adapting to uncertainty, change, and discourse. Take this time to appreciate the blessings in our lives and learn how to make positive changes for the future.
I wish all of you excellent health and safety for you and your families!
Brandi
P.S. Do you have any recent lessons learned to share? We’d love to hear from our community about how you’re adapting your business and everyday life. Join our private Facebook group for Insurance Producers.