Businesses that continue doing business as if it were business as usual will be out of business before too long. The pandemic plays no favorites. Your store that has been around since the 1800s will crumble as easily as one that just opened this year. There is no talisman against that eventuality. The only way to get your business through the pandemic is to realize that everything has changed. And you have to change with it.
You have to approach staffing differently. Depending on the type of business you have, you will have to find extra staffing or reduce your staffing numbers. One way to do that is to move to a staffing service that can send you the qualified employees you need as demanded by your business. This one move could save your business.
You will also have to change your safety procedures. If your business was mostly concerned about slip and fall incidents, that will change. Your focus now has to be on masking, social distancing, and sanitizing. If your core changes do not permeate your marketing message, you could find your efforts in vain. Be sure to update your marketing efforts in the following ways:
Emphasize Payment Options
One of the biggest talking points in your covid marketing campaign is the fact that payment options are available. A doctor’s office needs to highlight their patient payment solutions that include affordable and easy financing. Just because people are out of work does not mean they don’t want and need your services. They also want to pay for those services. They just need to know that there are options besides upfront, out of pocket payments.
If you are an all cash business, find a way to become an all forms of payment business. No one wants to handle cash that has been in the hands of someone with a deadly virus. Make it easy for people to pay with their smartphones and smart watches and tap cards. To get cash, a person needs to interact with a cash machine. No one believes that is safe right now. So provide payment options. Then, make that a major part of your marketing push.
## Emphasize Safety
If you are able to remain open to the public during the pandemic, set your politics aside and strictly enforce a mask mandate for all customers without exception. Then, make that policy clear in your business signage. The message should not sound preachy. It should sound like a feature letting people know they can feel safe if they come in. If people don’t want to wear a mask and are put off by the message, you don’t want them in your place of business. One person without a mask will deter many who are doing the right thing.
If you offer delivery, make that a part of your safety messaging. If you have had to reduce your hours, turn that into positive messaging. Make it clear you have reduced hours to accommodate deep cleaning between shifts. Don’t just say it; do it. These safety measures set you apart from other businesses that are merely trying to survive at any cost.
Emphasize Your Appreciation
If you want repeat business, practice the art of the “thank you”. You should say it every time a person enters your store and every time they leave. When you are not saying it, a bold “thank you” should be on every sign advertising your store.
If you do print, television, or radio advertising, make sure each one thanks the customer for their business. If you do business online and generate an email list, don’t spam your customers with offers. That makes them angrily delete. Rather, send them an earnest thanks for their business with no further strings attached. That will make them want to take a second look at who sent them a message of gratitude. Customers might return for a good deal. But they will definitely return if they feel appreciated. During this time of covid when you are lucky to get any business at all, dial your appreciation up to 11.
This is a time when even the most established businesses are falling away. They have a few things in common that you can do differently. They do not offer flexible payment options. They do not make their customers feel safe. And they do not make their customers feel appreciated. You have the opportunity to do better.
