silhouette of figures against an evening sky

At the risk of parroting the usual pandemic terminology, the changes we have all had to face in these uncertain times continue to be challenging. However ‘challenging’ is not all bad. For those of us still craving the good old days of ‘personal service’ and other things like letter writing and family time, there has been good news.  Plentiful examples exist of good Samaritans, helping neighbours, young children writing to residents in care homes, befriending strangers and gaining that all important commodity ‘time’, time to do things together as a family. And this against a back drop of a beautiful spring and hot summer encouraging outdoor explorations and discoveries often on your own doorstep. All in all, an unprecedented period, certainly in my lifetime.                  

But here we are approaching Christmas with dark nights, colder weather and more lockdowns. Businesses continue to struggle, many people are out of work or still work from home and still no clear path indicating a way out of this situation.

One of the stand outs in all this, is technology and the digital focus that the new order of life has had to take up. How else would we have been able to order our shopping, work out with Joe Wicks, found that new route for a walk, kept in touch with colleagues, customers, friends, family and been able to work from home? Businesses in particular have had to re-visit how they operate and making full use of the platforms available has become crucial. Whether it’s to provide information or advice, promote products or provide offers, or just to maintain contact, the list where technology continues to play an essential part is endless.

The learning curve for some has been steep but if my 93 year old Mum can (with a little help) hold a Zoom call there is hope for even the most Neanderthal of us! From the use of social media and all that entails, to the upgrading of the company website the last few months has certainly been educational. Recent research has evaluated social media platforms as follows:

Best Social Media Platforms for Business

  1. Facebook. Though Mark Zuckerberg has gotten a lot of bad press over the last couple of years, there’s no denying that he built the (overall) best social media platform for business currently available.
  2. Instagram
  3. Twitter
  4. LinkedIn                 

Here at Prestige, taking photos for social media postings has become second nature, filming little videos or should I say ‘vox pops’ are now scheduled into our work timetable and the addition of more interesting material to our website is a constant. We’re developing new areas on the site such as a section for dental learning where we aim to provide opportunity for each organisation/KOL we work alongside, to showcase their course offerings. We continue to upgrade the Resources Library with useful product details and how to care for and work with equipment, whilst connecting informative videos with each relevant product is ongoing.

Using this time to learn has also prompted a rise in the webinar and we are grateful for the increasingly sophisticated material now made available by our trade colleagues. A recent online exclusive offered between Prestige and Rhein83 on Advanced Prosthetic Restorations created so much interest that a second opportunity has now been scheduled to accommodate everyone.      

So where does all this leave us? Certainly not out of the woods, but at Prestige we remain positive for the future. We’ve re-focused on our business and customer needs which meant taking some tough decisions. In order to adapt to the new normal, we continue to embrace technology and connect with industry colleagues, emerging leaner and hopefully fitter to meet whatever the coming months may bring, head on.