As cities continue to flatten the COVID-19 curve, more attention is being focused on measures to ensure employees and customers are kept safe. Certain measures before reopening your business should be centered around creating safe and healthy business procedures.
Post-COVID-19 measures focused around cleanliness shouldn’t be the only priority of businesses looking to reopen. Mindset shifts are going to be essential to ensure we are able to both work together safely and connect with clients effectively in the post COVID era.
Specifically, we need to be able to reconnect and re-engage clients that have spent the last 3-6 months isolated and who don’t know what to expect when it comes to businesses reopening. In this post we’ll be discussing 3 tips businesses can use to help safely open and re-engage customers while reopening.
(c) Arturo Rey | Unsplash.com
1. Hold a COVID-19 town hall for when reopening your business
Holding a “COVID” town hall is going to be essential to bring the entire company onto the same page regarding how to safely interact in the office post COVID. Breaking old habits, and stressing the importance of new habits is essential.
Habits focused around cleanliness, personal hygiene, and meeting room etiquette should be stressed; connect these habits with the impact they have to operate a healthy and safe workspace.
Also, make sure employees shift their mindset related to client interactions. As we reopen, we need to work with clients in a different way than we did before the pandemic.
Employees should be trained and prepared to have different interactions with clients. Your clients might be more cautious, different business etiquette (elbow bumps vs. handshakes) might be appropriate with some clients, and less corporate travel might be the new normal.
2. Re-engage with customers early and often
Bringing your customers up to speed on your reopening plans and procedures is going to be very important to how effectively your business is able to reopen and make up for lost ground. Early and often should be the communication mantra for getting customers back on board with your company.
The goal here is to get your clients back into the habit of visiting your business, and this starts with awareness. Once you have your business reopening plans worked out, send out an email communication to your customer list letting them know what to expect.
The reality is that all companies are going to be re-engaging and blasting their clients with communications around reopening. An important consideration with your reopening communications is whether to offer incentives or loyalty programs to bring customers back.
One great way to ensure your business is staying top of mind for clients is by implementing new rewards and loyalty programs to help incent your customers to come back. This will incentivize your clients to get back into the habit of visiting your business.
3. Prepare for the unexpected upon reopening your business
The working world post-COVID-19 is going to be different than what we were used to. Talk of the “new normal” is everywhere, and for all the planning we are doing, there is inevitably going to be speed bumps along the way.
(c) Hanson Lu | Unsplash.com
We need to prepare for the unexpected and be ready to pivot as things change. Creating a “reopening council” can help ensure your organization is able to roll with the punches as things change after reopening. New rules, bylaws, and societal expectations are sure to evolve as we progress through our reopening journey.
Hand washing protocols, designating hand sanitizer stations, more frequent cleaning, face masks, etc. Having a council created to evaluate, address, and implement new health and safety changes will make it easier to act quickly as things change.
Summary
These 3 tips will definitely help your business on its journey to successfully reopening. Make sure to keep in mind that this is new territory for us all, none of us really know exactly what to expect.
Keep an open mind, roll with the punches, and do your best! The goal is to ensure our customers and employees are safe, and these three tips should help!
