Ways to reassure your customers post-COVID.
Back in business at last! Time to resume operations and win (back) the new customer in the post-COVID world. Meanwhile, the need to create and communicate a narrative of hope is now more crucial than ever as a means to reassure and reconnect with both customers and employees, while staying current in the post-crisis marketplace. How? Read on!
Market trends now.
To begin with, let’s identify 4 main megatrends that act as key drivers in the post-COVID market.
1. Digital transformation is the integration of technology into all areas of your business.
2. Sustainability is the process by which you manage your financial, social and environmental obligations, opportunities and risks in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
3. Resilience and agility. Resilience refers to the capacity of your business to absorb and adapt to external shocks, like the crisis triggered by the pandemic. Agility, on the other hand, focuses on your ability to respond rapidly and flexibly to market changes.
4. Governance strengthening and trust enhancement are also under the microscope nowadays, as the way you manage and oversee the people, the processes, the performance, and the purpose of your business significantly impacts how trustworthy and socially responsible you are perceived to be.
How can you reassure stakeholders in the post-crisis world?
Find below some excellent ways to reassure and connect with your stakeholders post-COVID. As communication is a common denominator in and key to all your ventures, finding your brand voice is essential to successfully implement any of the following strategies.
★ Cultivate a learning culture. A company that listens to its environment is a company destined to succeed.
▶︎ Organise trainings, seminars and workshops for your employees regarding new protocols and requirements pertinent to the post-COVID period.
▶︎ Document management systems, groupware, e-mail, databases and workflow management systems allow you to share information and important updates within your business easily and fast. In this way you make your employees feel that thy are in the know and prepare them for the new reality in the market.
▶︎ Chat groups, discussion forums and videoconferencing technologies are great ways to connect and reassure both your customers and stakeholders.
★ Go digital! People are rapidly getting accustomed to digital shopping, working, and collaboration. Reassure your customers by building a strong online presence and your employees by using technologies that facilitate collaboration and remote work.
▶︎ Get online! If you don’t have a website, the time is now to create one.
▶︎ Say yes to e-commerce.
▶︎ IoT devices can be used to automate tasks, conduct remote meetings and create an interactive and personalised product experience, among others.
★ Communicate via multiple channels and offer a variety of virtual options. Constant and consistent communication during and after dire times is crucial. Communicate your resilience and showcase the human side of your brand to dispel your audience’s fears and win them. Implement an omni-channel communications strategy that enables you to send consistent, centrally managed messages across all channels. Remember to do it both online and offline.
▶︎ Blogging and posting content relevant to your business, sector and the current situation shows that you care and you are worthy of trust and respect.
▶︎ Engage your audience on social media.
▶︎ Include videos in your digital marketing strategy because they increase trust with customers and deepen their connection with your brand.
▶︎ Use print, SMS, e-mail, web portals, and mobile applications to reassure your customers and employees.
▶︎ Apps like Zoom and Teams are also popular communication enablers.
★ Want to restore trust? Be transparent! Show empathy and be supportive of your customers and stakeholders to restore their confidence in your brand and sector as a whole.
★ Implement corporate social responsibility initiatives. Social relevance and contributions of your business with the common good in mind are things that customers value, expect and are ready to reward post-COVID. Organise online and offline PR activities, as well as hybrid events to connect with your customers and reassure them.
This is the first step.
The post-crisis terrain is fast-paced and dynamic. Everybody craves reassurance and the certainty that their well-being is your business’s top priority. Make sure to communicate with your customers and stakeholders to let them know how you are planning to develop sustainable, future-proof experiences for them. Because what we need is competent, resilient and purpose-driven companies and governments that put people first.
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https://www.luxinnovation.lu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/post-covid-19-market-trends.pdf
https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/dtlstictinf2020d2_en.pdf
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2020/business-resilience-lessons-covid-19
https://blog.som.cranfield.ac.uk/knowledge/reconnecting-after-the-lockdown
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/03/23/covid-19-business-trends