The economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic has caused the world to almost come to a halt. A lot of businesses were forced to close and others were put on a fast-track to entirely rely on digital technology to survive. Even some of the biggest corporates have needed some help from the government to stay afloat during the pandemic. Practicing social distancing is a good way to limit the spread of the virus, but it’s not the ideal way to run certain businesses.Â
Understanding how a company can be run from a distance while keeping both your customers and employees engaged is very important in a day and age, where a physical location doesn’t mean much anymore. We’ve listed some of the best methods you can use to run the business remotely without compromising customer satisfaction and employee engagement.
Proactive Communication
Customers understand that the current circumstances aren’t really ideal. It’s not uncommon for customers to empathize with businesses that are facing hardships amidst a crisis. The key to making sure that your customers are actively engaged with you is communication. Reaching out to customers and letting them know that you still have them in mind but you are simply unable to continue doing work the regular way will be a notion that they can accept easily. You might want to mention the steps that you are taking to increase the safety of your employees and keeping the business open. Use social media channels for effective communication and utilize your website as well.
Using SMS Marketing
While SMS is far from being a new technology, it’s actually making quite the comeback amidst the ongoing situation. The usage of SMS campaigns has almost doubled in the last few years. While a lot of people may view it as an old-fashioned way to promote and market a business, it’s not as outdated and inefficient as they may think.
The experts behind https://messente.com/resources/guides/sms-marketing say that not a lot of things can simulate the feel and effect of a text message directly sent to a customer. It is one of the most personal marketing techniques that can allow you to engage your customers, and its effect is doubled when they aren’t familiar with new technologies and platforms.
Positive Work Culture
When your employees are separated from the business by physical distance, you will have to heavily rely on a positive work culture. The development of your company’s values is a very important step in any business that operates remotely, especially when you take into account that you will have to rely on the autonomy of your employees. You need to empower and trust your employees enough if you want them to be capable of staying connected with your customers and engaged with the company’s values. Fortunately, there is no shortage of digital communication tools that you can use to stimulate team collaboration and engagement. Healthy work cultures and environments can allow workers to do their best in their homes.
Setting Expectations
A lot of employees who have suddenly found themselves working from home may not know what’s exactly expected from them. This can set your business back because the employees won’t suddenly find themselves able to communicate and operate effectively as they were used to.
It is the responsibility of managers and executives to guide their employees in their first steps to ensure that they have a clear vision and expectations regarding the operation that they are in. It’s always helpful to include the employees in the bigger picture, allowing them to take ownership and look for their own set of solutions within the parameters of the company’s standards.
Gift Card Promotions
A lot of businesses quickly transitioned to an online-only operation. Some of those businesses may not have the best online presence because they relied heavily on physical retail shops and conventional methods of marketing. One of the best ways to stimulate and engage your customers is by providing them with promotions and gift cards that can help them see your business in a new light. Whether you’re providing a service or a product, giving your customers discounts will help your company gain traction in the digital sphere. You can use any digital channel to promote the gift cards, but you should always focus on the biggest 3; social media, website, and email campaigns.
Any business should always search for ways to expand beyond the physical sphere that they are in. There is no doubt that the future holds a lot of remote working and marketing in store. The days of conventional and old-fashioned ways of conducting business are long gone. Keeping your employees and customers in the loop as you move on is a very essential phase in any business plan.
