“We've had video conferences with some of our potential customers, but at the end of the day, you have to close the deal in person,” Souki said. “If the virus continues to expand and we continue to have these quarantines and restrictions, we will have to adjust.”
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of toymaker Learning Resources, said his management team is “groping our way along” when it comes to navigating what he called “not normal times.” The closely-held company, based in Vernon, Hills, Illinois, has cut back on travel and doesn’t expect in the near future to be visiting its manufacturing partners in China, where the virus originated earlier this year.
“The use of technology will expand in many ways the way we interact with customers, but I do not think the value of being in the same room as people will diminish,” Woldenberg said. “Like any business, we do business with people. Your ability to communicate your integrity, trustworthiness—it’s always better in person to come to an agreement.”
--With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich, Naureen Malik, Jacqueline Davalos and Mallika Mitra.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.