By Ilana Guttin, Marketing & PR Manager
As the world continues to operate according to the new regulations brought upon by COVID-19, businesses must develop new ways to provide value to their customers. During these unpredictable times, prioritizing customers and offering ongoing support will help your business stand out.
- Communicate openly and frequently with customers
The last thing customers want to experience during these challenging times is feeling out of the loop or disconnected. Find new channels to communicate with customers, such as newsletters, weekly check-ins with clients, or face-to-face video conferences and educate customers on how to communicate with you efficiently. Promote the steps that your business is taking as a response to the pandemic and assure the customer that the obstacle of remote communication will not negatively impact the business’ quality of work.
2. Be understanding and flexible
COVID-19 has taken a toll on everybody’s work and home life. Make an effort to empathize with customers and ensure that your company prioritizes public health over bringing in a profit. Support this claim by being flexible with your customers. By demonstrating understanding behaviors, you are making customers feel valued, which could extend customer loyalty in the future.
3. Ask for feedback
Nobody can expect a business to make a perfect transition to working remotely. Own the fact that there are always aspects you can improve on and communicate with customers to determine how you can best accommodate their needs. By inviting constructive criticism, you are showing customers that you value their point of view and aim to make this remote experience as straightforward as possible. It also demonstrates your business’ desire to continue to move forward even when it feels like the world has come to a stop.
4. Give back to the community
Not only should businesses give back to the community for the sake of being kind, but it also demonstrates to customers your commitment to putting others first. If you make targeted efforts to help society, you will build respect for your company and simultaneously work to lighten the effects of the pandemic. Whether giving back entails donating money, masks, or time, let your customer base know how you plan on helping the community during this time of need.
5. Discuss the future
Openly share with customers how you believe the business can improve and progress coming out of this experience. Use this unprecedented experience to develop strong relationships with customers and emphasize how the business’ ability to adapt has made the team more reliable. Be proactive; Take as much control of this negative situation as you can instead of complaining about the circumstances. This approach not only shows customers your dependability but also shows how you are ahead of the curve and able to pivot.
With all the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, the best way to provide value to your customers is to be understanding and dependable. If you can prioritize customers and make them feel like a vital component, your business can come out of this crisis stronger than before.
To learn how Verasolve can help your company with its marketing and communications strategy, contact Katie Jordan at katie@verasolve.com.
