The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected the operations of most, if not all, businesses globally. Many companies have been closed down, while others have had to reduce their operation range during this period. Some businesses, however, have continued to thrive despite the ongoing pandemic. Some people have devised methods to help them pull through the pandemic and achieve their desired business success.
There are several success stories whereby business owners term the pandemic as a blessing in disguise. According to them, were it not for the pandemic, they still would be stuck with being average. The pandemic pushed them to be more innovative and inventive to succeed during these challenging times.
The economy of almost all countries went down, mainly due to the installed curfews and lockdowns. Entrepreneurs had to think outside the box to sustain their business. New entrepreneurship practices have been adopted during the pandemic, and entrepreneurs need to adopt the latest methods of operations to run their businesses post-pandemic successfully. According to statistics by WHO, the pandemic is here to stay, so we need to adopt new ways of doing business.
This article will discuss five ways to run a business during the pandemic successfully.
Let's dig deeper!
1. Support Your Employees
The crisis has clearly shown the importance of supporting and investing in your team. You can’t run a business on your own. You need your employees' skills, energy, and commitment to have a successful business. Your employees are your greatest assets, and when you take care of your team, they will take care of your business!
Supporting your employees doesn't mean that you neglect your business or pressure yourself to please your employees. Supporting your team means adopting new work schedules that ensure the safety of your employees and establishing flexible work schedules that provide employees with the necessary work-life balance.
To support employees, ensure that you provide them with necessary resources that help them in their work. Involve your employees in decision-making to make them feel needed, trusted, and treated as insiders in the organization. Entrust your employees with new responsibilities to boost their confidence, push them out of their comfort zone, and enable them to bond with other team members.
As a leader, you should show an understanding of your employees' needs, preferences, and circumstances for their work arrangements. An example is when you introduce working from home; you need to understand that it takes time to transition and that your employees may not deliver as per the requirements. Listen to them, ask for their preference, and consider their thoughts when making decisions. Finally, you have to learn to appreciate your employees for their work, dedication, contributions, and effort.
2. Build Strong Customer Relationships
There is no business if there are no customers, and the success of a business depends on the rapport it can build with its customers. The pandemic has clearly shown the importance of having loyal customers and maintaining them. When you create a relationship with your customer, you learn their needs and provide solutions to meet their needs. Communication is the most incredible tool to build customer relationships. Have meaningful conversations with your customers and create an effective customer support team. Ensure that voicemail messages and emails are returned promptly. If you are worried about providing instant support and satisfying your customer needs, then check this offer out.
Exceed your customer expectations by over-delivering the promises you made. Impressed customers will keep coming back and do free referrals, increasing your CSAT and sales, too. Ask for feedback from your customers to understand the quality of your products or services. Whether positive or negative, the feedback can be used to gauge customer satisfaction and improve on the areas of the complaint or keep up on your success areas. Remember to address any customer concerns raised from the feedback given.
Connect with your customers by asking them questions and responding to their inquiries. New technology has provided you with many online tools and social media outlets to reach customers. Send gifts to your loyal customers to show your appreciation. When customers feel needed and appreciated, they will always come back.
3. Be Strategic With Your Marketing
The pandemic has accelerated the speed at which digital marketing is going and has changed how the post-COVID world will be. The dependency on the internet has increased by a large percentage during the pandemic as people learn to shop virtually. Thus, increase your business's online presence, as everything is now shifting online. Your online performance and accessibility will help set you apart from your competitors, and you will stand out to potential customers.
Invest in good customer relationship management software like company websites and automated customer support. You can also host informative webinars to build trust, attract new customers, and support work-from-home employee needs. To keep your business resilient and thriving, you have to stay engaged with your customers and employees online. Advertise your business on social media platforms that have your target audience. You can also try paid advertising channels like Google ads, LinkedIn ads, and Instagram ads.
To be effective in your marketing, try focusing on your customers rather than struggling to bring in new customers. Look out for your customers, clients, and staff when tough things happen. This involves giving out free stuff to loyal customers, giving discounts, or even waving loans. This could hurt your cash flow, but eventually, you will see growth in other areas such as brand awareness, organic traffic, loyalty, and social media engagement that will all later lead to a lower customer churn rate and higher revenues.
4. Have a Communication Plan
If anything, the pandemic has shown the importance of authentic and transparent communication. Customers now prefer engaging with brands online rather than in-person interaction. Customers want to be addressed and informed on the situations on the ground and what to expect post-pandemic. Ensure that you send a clear and direct message that will guide your customers and reassure them of your business stability and brand integrity.
Be clear with your communication and watch out how you make directives to your customers. Show your customers simplified ways to engage with your brand and make orders online. Address any issues directly by making friendly appeals through social media. Regularly remind your customers that you value them and assure them better deals when they purchase from you. Be honest with your employees and customers on how you plan on improving business, as things are not expected to snap straight back to smooth sailing post-pandemic. Create for them a picture of what's going on with the business and future goals. This will make your customers and employees feel involved and updated, thus they will continue to trust your brand and stay loyal.
5. Prioritize Revenue Opportunities
Recovering from the pandemic will help businesses build resilience and help them seize new business opportunities that may come their way. As a business owner or manager, you need to reframe your organization's goals to suit any emergencies that may arise. Capitalize on all opportunities that present themselves.
To prioritize revenue opportunities may include launching campaigns to win back loyal customers or developing your business's safety and health dimensions. Create flexible payment terms for your customer, such as enabling mobile transactions. When you prioritize revenue opportunities, the impact of the options will be reflected on the company revenue. This will help you capitalize on the post-pandemic world while making a profit.
To successfully run a post-pandemic business, you need to employ innovative minds that will give you a competitive advantage in the new markets. However, in today's world, both talents and technology are important for the long-term prosperity. For instance, it has never before been possible to halve a massive support costs by 50% by just one click, while now you can just click here. Similarly, it has never before been possible to successfully run a whole customer support department completely remotely, too. Now you can do it even more efficiently compared to the office work results with this tool.
Keep in mind that…
COVID-19 has reshaped the dynamics of business operations, and you have to face the new market realities post-pandemic. Things will never be the same again, and business operation modules are no exception. You have to adapt to the new ways to stand out and successfully run a business.
Employees and customers are the major stakeholders in your business, and if you can satisfy their needs, you can be assured of a successful business.