Looking back during the Christmas dinner
Late one afternoon last week I got another telling-off from Peter, our copywriter. I had to hurry up with my contribution to the last Opslagwereld of the year. A strict lockdown was in the air, and the last newsletter of the year obviously has to go out on time.
Counter-cyclical
Fortunately I had already made a start. I had written that 2020 had of course become a remarkable year for all of us. For us it was a year that started well, but in March the cards were suddenly reshuffled. An unprecedented pandemic took our society by surprise. Many of our customers began to doubt their future prospects or saw their once rosy business outlook go up in smoke.
Fortunately it soon became clear that the coronavirus crisis did not reduce the need for storage space in the slightest. This counter-cyclical development was reminiscent of ten years ago, when the economic crisis hit hard. Even in times of recession, people turn out to have a great need to store their belongings. Only the reason is different.
A new target group
In 2020 the so-called ‘happy’ customers stayed away. After all, sons and daughters did not go abroad to study, and people did not travel for long periods themselves. What did happen this year was that a great many proper home workplaces had to be set up in a short time. For customers, this necessity created a new target group: one that needed storage space for a long time. More opportunities for extra revenue, in other words. We also call this category ‘storage demand of a permanent nature’. You can remember that last label and bring it up at the Christmas dinner table. It might spark a lively discussion…
On behalf of the entire STREPPEL team, we would like to thank you sincerely for our contact and for the trust you placed in us during this remarkable year. We will not forget 2020 any time soon, but we are now quite happy to put it behind us.
We of course look forward to seeing you again in 2021. It would be very nice if, without being troubled by all the restrictions, you could then tell me all about your last Christmas dinner.
Jan-Hein Streppel