In our Coping with COVID-19 series, AVNetwork is interviewing manufacturers to discover how they’re handling the COVID-19 crisis and how the pandemic has impacted their businesses.
Kim Spencer, marketing director at Listen Technologies, discusses the company’s response to COVID-19.
AVN: Have you pivoted your business strategy in response to COVID-19? If so, how?
KIM SPENCER: Shortly after the global pandemic hit and the majority of people had transitioned to working from home, we saw an increase in inquiries and leads for mobile applications such as drive-in worship and events. We quickly shifted our marketing and sales resources to help our customers fill the demand for mobile audio.
Fast-forward six weeks and we began to receive inquiries about using portable audio solutions to facilitate communication while social distancing. Many essential factories and businesses needed employees to be able to communicate effectively and safely to move work forward while they remained apart in compliance with social distancing requirements, or worked in different areas of very large facilities. Again, we shifted our focus to fill a very urgent need in the marketplace.
As a company, one of our tenets is to remain nimble and agile in order to address the needs of our customers. This has served us well in the current situation.
AVN: How have your day-to-day operations changed during this time?
KS: Like many others, the majority of our workforce quickly transitioned to a work from home model. This went really well and allowed us to continue to service the needs of our customers while following the guidelines outlined by the WHO, CDC, and government entities.
AVN: Has COVID-19 had an impact on your supply chain? If so, how are you handling any delays?
KS: We have not experienced any delays in receiving supply, and very few delays in shipping product to our customers. In terms of shipping and supply, it has been “business as usual” at Listen Technologies.
AVN: Have you implemented any virtual training/education resources for integrators?
KS: Yes, our number one goal is to provide valuable information and resources to help our partners. During the months of March and April, we held several webinars, focusing on assistive listening and compliance, ListenTALK applications, and the BYOD trend.
AVN: What has been your largest leadership success during this time?
KS: We quickly transitioned to a successful work from home model. Our executive leadership team put processes in place very early on, and IT was able to transition everybody within a few short days—well before the mandate to do so.
AVN: How do you think business will change post-COVID-19?
KS: Our company is developing a plan for a ‘work from anywhere’ business model that gives upper management the flexibility to allow more team members to work remotely. Having the infrastructure and support in place for COVID-19 has proven that as a company we can complete important projects and service our customers’ needs, regardless of whether our people work in the office, at an alternative location, or a combination of these scenarios.
AVN: Anything else you'd like to add?
KS: The current circumstances have been challenging on many levels, but have forced us as an organization to think outside the box and be creative in the way we move projects along and fulfill the needs of our customers. We have seen an increase in team spirit and collaboration and are looking forward to offering our people more flexibility in how they meet work demands and support our customers and partners.
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