Ali Azarvan

As I’m sitting here, getting some things off my chest, our country has quickly eclipsed 80,000 deaths as a result of COVID-19. That’s 25X the amount of people that died on September 11th. I can’t even wrap my head around that. It’s a terrible tragedy that will, without question, change how we live our lives in the coming years. This makes me sad for a ton of reasons. For one, I’m a hugger. I’m a kiss-on-the-cheeker. Does that change in the future? Probably.

You may be thinking “OK, stop thinking about yourself, Ali. People are dying”. Yeah, I know that. I’ve been refreshing a “death tracker” website multiple times per day (by the way, a TERRIBLE idea). I’ve been trying to make sense of what is happening and I’m no closer to an answer than I was a couple of months ago.

But like everyone else, I’m selfish. I’m constantly wondering how this will affect ME and my family in the future. Things have obviously changed at home. My wife has gone from a nurse to a home school teacher (she’s killing it by the way). My kids miss their friends, miss their grandparents, miss their cousins, miss their aunts and uncles, miss going out to eat, miss the movie theater, etc. But guess what? They’re handling it like champs. I’ve been blown away by how well they are adjusting. Most of all, I’ve been blown away by my wife. She has made this transition as smooth as any human could.

Like most others, I’m working from home. Honestly, my productivity hasn’t changed too much. I’m saving about 25-30 minutes per day commuting. I’m saving about $400 / month going out for lunch. I’ve finally set up my home office in a home we just built - it’s literally sat empty for a year. But if I’m being totally honest, I feel like I’ve been in a fog lately.

2 weeks ago I decided to make a shift in my thoughts. Instead of getting caught up in all of the drama I see on my Facebook feed 24/7, I decided to focus on the positive. Guess what? It’s been a game-changer. Some lessons I’ve learned recently:

Phones are being answered - Everyone has more time now. Everyone is craving social contact. So guess what? The people that may have been difficult to get a hold of are ready and willing to chat NOW. Frankly, I've had more executives from large companies reach out to me in the last 2 months than I saw in the previous year.

Building rapport is so damn easy - I’ve preached this for years, building rapport is everything in sales and, frankly, in life. Building rapport is about establishing some sort of commonality with the person on the other end of the phone. . . guess what? We all have something in common now. We’re all cooped up in our homes, disheveled in our PJ's trying to get work done wondering when things will get back to “normal”. Boom - instant rapport :)

No more lies! You know what has been refreshing? So much of the bullshit is gone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “yeah, we’re killing it!” or “business couldn’t be any better!” when I knew full-well that the person on the other line was struggling. But he was too embarrassed to say he was struggling. She was too embarrassed to say that she needed help. Covid has given everyone permission to finally just be REAL. And you know what? Most people need help - and most people want to help.

Business is actually getting done! Have I seen a dip in business over the last couple of months. OF COURSE I HAVE. Unless you’re Amazon, a liquor store (thank you for remaining open), or a grocery store, you’re seeing a hit to your bottom-line. But I’ve also built the most exciting pipeline of business in the last couple of weeks - because of all of the reasons I just mentioned.

Wait, you have children??? The best part of this whole situation is the fact that I’m learning more about existing clients than I ever knew. I’m meeting wives, children, dogs, dogs, and more dogs. And everyone is meeting my boys. Does it distract a little? Yes. Does it make boring Zoom calls more entertaining? Absolutely.

Is it all roses up in here? Definitely not. The last couple of months have been utter insanity. I'm learning some things about myself - and I'm not proud of many of them. But I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and, man, is it bright. Focus on the positive, help where you can, and we’ll all get through this together.

Ali Azarvan

Santa Barbara, California, United States 2K followers 500+ connections

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Articles by Ali

The Irony of Covid - Flipping the Script on My Quarantine

By Ali Azarvan

Experience

Funk Zone Media

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Education

John Carroll University

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