Maintaining the trust and confidence of your customers during a crisis is critical to the survival of any business. Here are six tips to navigating communications with customers throughout the pandemic. Note that the situation is constantly changing; these tips were crafted on March 15, 2020 and may require tweaking as things evolve.
1. Firstly, leave the virus updates and advice to the medical experts.
2. Focus on the customers who are comfortable with social distancing. Accept that you are unlikely to change the minds of those who prefer to self-quarantine, nor should we try to change their minds.
3. Identify the potential concerns of your customers and develop a business plan to protect them from exposure to the virus. For example, this may include additional sanitation steps, or offering sick pay to employees. Be sure to communicate these initiatives to staff.
4. Develop messaging that assures customers their health is your first priority. Outline the new steps you'll be implementing to protect your customers. You may also want to remind customers to stay home if they are symptomatic.
5. It is ok especially for small business owners to tastefully promote online retail offerings and gift certificates.
6. Finally, don't forget to thank your customers for their support, and wish them good health!
Here is an example of Coronavirus messaging I crafted for 7 Mile Island Massage: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9uezVqDzF9/
Let me know if you'd like help too!
