Business Advice: How to Keep your Customers Happy During Lockdown
We did it, we finally gave 2020 the boot! Unfortunately, the coronavirus has followed us into the new year, leaving many businesses struggling under restrictions. With many unessential businesses forced to shut yet again, we’re all left to wonder how on earth our businesses will survive in another lockdown. It’s time to change the way our companies operate and think a little outside the box. Here’s how you can keep your business going during the pandemic!
Adapt your Business
In such uncertain times, it is vital to be able to adapt. Existing consumers and clients want a business that can still operate in a professional manner during the pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns. The most obvious and widespread way in which companies have adapted is to allow their employees to work from home where possible. This allows your business to keep ticking over in a relatively stable manner, where customers and clients still have a focal point to communicate with whilst the virus takes its course.
The Covid-19 outbreak, however, is affecting everyone from large multi-national corporations to small family-owned businesses, so it’s important that each of these adapt in a way that works for them. For instance, a large company may well be able to work from home with little disruption, where Zoom meetings and Skype calls allow their business to sustain some form of relative normality. On the other hand, a smaller and more localised business may have to adapt in a different way.
Smaller businesses, such as start up’s and family businesses may have to adapt in other ways. The best way to keep your business running at such unprecedented times would be to listen and liaise with your local community. For instance, if your local shop or business is forced to close it’s premise, as many have, then maybe find a way of still providing your service without having a centre for people to gather. Restaurants can look into delivering food and shops can look into moving online, focusing on deliveries for the foreseeable future.
What do Customers want in such uncertain times?
Right now, customers simply want some continuity and normality in their life. For instance, if you’re a restaurant, your customers may well want to continue to eat your food without being able to come to your building, or if you’re a shop, it may be worth looking into delivering your products via an online forum.
For restaurants, getting your food onto websites such as JustEat or Deliveroo are obvious and relatively easy ways to promote your business and it’s food, and also to make some much-needed money during the lock-down, without having to open your premise to the public.
If you are a local shop or business owner, it may be best to communicate with your customers via an online medium. Having a strong presence on social media will allow you to continue to exchange information with customers and the native community. With this in mind, you may be able to gauge whether customers are still interested in taking deliveries of your products, which you can then organise with them.
It would be best for businesses to see this as an opportunity. You can come out of this pandemic with a much-enhanced reputation if you are able to listen to and provide for your customers. Whether that be through continuing to provide them with your goods despite the lockdown or even just being a force for good within your local opportunity. The Coronavirus does not have to mean the end of your business.
Communication is key!
Now that the UK is back in some form of lockdown, and with no tangible end in sight, it is clear that companies must focus even more on their online presence.
Communication will mean different things for different companies. For instance, as previously stated smaller businesses may be best to focus on social media to continue having an impact on their local community. However, with larger corporations then internal communication is still vital, even if face-to-face time has been drastically cut as much of the workforce continue to work at home. Apps such as Zoom are great at communicating remotely. This means that whilst you may be physically away from your colleagues, it is still easy to maintain a relationship, develop ideas and work effectively for your business.
However, many businesses may also need to continue communicating with foreign clients and customers despite the lockdown. Do not think that just because travel is off the cards, communicating with foreign customers should be any harder. Previously mentioned apps such as Zoom can help you to continue to expand your business from the comfort of your own home.
If your clients do not speak your language then the MyJuno app is a great way of being able to communicate accurately with someone from different locations and in different languages. It is important to acknowledge that businesses can continue to run despite the lockdown, just make sure you keep communicating with clients and customers in a timely and accurate manner!
Don’t act as if nothing has changed!
In a time of such unprecedented change, it is important to not bury your head in the sand and keep running your business as you did before the Coronavirus pandemic. Adapt to the new life we will all be living in the coming months – keep up your online presence strong and make your money in any way you can.
The Coronavirus does not have to be seen as the end for many businesses, instead, it should be seen as a fresh beginning, where there are still countless opportunities to thrive, even under such difficult circumstances. As long as you continue to do what your business does best, then there is no reason why you cannot come out of this pandemic stronger than ever.
