After coronavirus, no one can assume that, in the short term, business life will be the same as we remember it.
To minimise the impact arising from the disruption of coronavirus engaging with customers and employees alike is key. Indeed, for many, opportunities will come out of these forced changes, so this also offers scope to move ahead stronger in your marketplace.
We have put together a simple checklist of some of the areas we think we will all have to consider in the ‘New Norm’.
- Internal communication
Your people will no doubt be affected by remote working, changing roles, responsibilities and lines of communication. It is essential to keep talking openly with your teams, more than you ever have before, to ensure they know what is changing, how it will affect them, and to reassure them that you are there collectively to support each other plus build on their ideas for change.
- Skills and training
There will be different requirements to support these new ways of working. It is important to review your training needs, particularly technology, to support effective remote working. This includes implementing the right suite of tools and processes to collaborate and share documents and data. You might even already have them – you just need to look at them again. It’s also important to consider the softer skills such as remote team management and leadership, along with the skills for the ‘new’ customer services.
- External communication
Keep your world engaged with clear communication, making sure it is current and that all your connections are aware of any changes to services and support, opening hours and orders. Your customers will appreciate transparency around the problems you are facing due to the pandemic and may reward your honesty with their loyalty. Where you deal with people directly, make sure you provide clear messaging for ‘safe’ transactions – respecting any social distancing and hygiene rules.
- Customer at the heart
Your customers remain the lifeblood of your business. More than ever it is key to understand their needs. Whatever your plans are, ensure they align with customer needs and expectations. We recommend ‘client listening’ to understand what has changed in their behaviour, expectations and spending decisions. From here you can look at how you can adapt within your business model to support them. Dedicate some time to this, stop other work and get your team to call customers and listen. Use this to inform your forward plans and actions.
The new norm does not mean resuming business as usual. This is a new era for operating and taking time to ensure your engagement is strong all-round, will be fruitful in the future. For more information on customer journey mapping and client listening contact EstherM@NineFeetTall.com
