There are so many emails and articles circulating about the Coronavirus – updates from around the world, tips for parents who have kids at home, free services to help families and businesses in need. Our team at 1558 wanted to share a few insights and tips on communication in the midst of the coronavirus that may be of use to all of the businesses being impacted.
From a Communication Perspective, What Should You Be Focusing on During this Time?
Communicate with your customers regularly – Let your customers or clients know what you will be doing as an organization so they know what to expect and aren’t left wondering. Send out an email, post on social media, make phone calls, and update your website and Google My Business listing (as well as other directory listings). Some important information to include:
- Update your hours of operation
- Make sure your phone number is front and center
- Provide a link to schedule a video conference
- Explain how your business will continue supporting customers
Be prepared with a plan for the next 8 weeks – Think about what your organization needs to do over the next 8 weeks to continue providing for customers or clients and develop your plan NOW. You may have to think outside of the box for solutions to continue running your business.
- Continue generating revenue online by leveraging your website and social media channels
- Provide services such as delivery
- Hold virtual meetings and events
- Utilize video to stay in touch with your customers – if you have a smartphone you can create a video to send out
- Provide your employees with the tools needed to work online and from home
Protect the health of your employees by taking your business online as much as possible – There are some organizations that are needed more than ever right now such as healthcare or community support organizations. If you are one of these, thank you for your continued service! If you are not, there are a lot of great tools out there that make remote/virtual working very easy. The key is to continue to motivate and engage your employees.
- GSuite has a great set of tools to help your employees stay connected with each other and with customers, including Google Meet for video conferencing and Hangouts Chat for instant messaging. They are offering this service for FREE until July 1 to help businesses with this transition.
- Other options include Zoom and GoToMeeting which both have a FREE offer to businesses during this time.
- Project management software such as Asana, Monday.com, or Wrike can help get your remote team organized and keep accountability in place
Leverage local chambers and media outlets to help you get the message out about your business – Your local Chamber of Commerce is in the business of supporting its members. And, media outlets will be interested in any major changes that are happening in their communities. For instance, KBEC, an Ellis County radio station, is offering a FREE :60 radio spot to Chamber of Commerce members to explain changes of operation or changes in product delivery. Look for opportunities like this in your local area.
Additional Resources
If you love to see data presented in a beautiful, graphical way like we do, check out this visualization of the coronavirus.
If you are trying to work from home but are distracted by all of the kids, animals, and laundry, try some of these free subscriptions/resources for your children to continue learning while out of school or sign your kids up for Khan Academy – it’s a great, free resource. Sorry, no good advice for the laundry except ignore it until after 5pm!
We Are Here to Help
1558 Brand Agency is open and here to help with communication in the midst of the coronavirus and in regards to how your business will respond. We are asking our team to limit in-person meetings either completely or as much as possible, but we are available over the phone or video conferencing through Google Meet. Let us help you develop a communication strategy for the next few months.