The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies in all industries to rethink how they interact with their clients. To say that this has been difficult for everyone is an understatement, but the pandemic has lasted for most of 2020, and things aren’t going back to normal anytime soon. If your business has been struggling to connect with its existing clients or find any new clients, here are some tips that might help.
Reduce Physical Interaction
The most obvious change that you’ve had to make is to reduce physical contact with clients as much as possible, both for their own health and to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. If face-to-face interaction with clients was the norm before, it certainly isn’t now. If you have a store that sells a physical product, look into contactless delivery options. If you provide a service that usually required you to be in the same room as a client, switch to remote meetings via Zoom or a similar platform. If you have the kind of business that requires your physical presence, follow social distancing guidelines to the letter and require clients to wear masks.
Provide Financial Assistance When You Can
Nobody is asking you to pay your clients’ bills for them, but you need to understand how hard this pandemic has been on them financially. Reduce your prices, waive as many fees as you can afford to waive, and provide the occasional free meal if you’re in the food service industry. Your clients will greatly appreciate any help they can get.
Shift to Online Channels
Online shopping has become the norm for retailers during this pandemic, and for good reason. Not only does it keep physical interaction to a minimum, but it allows those who are under quarantine to keep up with their own shopping. Shift to online channels whenever possible, and encourage your clients to do the same by offering discounts and other incentives to those who do business from their computers.
Be Available
Isolation has hit people particularly hard during this time, so make yourself available to your clients whenever you can. Make it a point to answer your emails and update your social media profiles in a timely manner, and invest in online call centers. It may look like the world has come to a halt, but it clearly hasn’t; you and your clients will still need to reach each other, and you need to make that as easy as possible right now.