Whether you\u2019re leading a B2B, B2C, e-commerce corporation, or a nonprofit, you have likely spent hours agonizing over how best to pivot your business now that COVID-19 has seemingly put the world on pause. But first we really need to understand how these changes are impacting our clients, customers, and prospects.<\/p>\n
As this situation continues to unfold, what worked last week may not this week and most people are just anxious to get back to \u201cnormal.\u201d I\u2019m willing to bet that the question on most small business owners’ minds is \u201cwhen will I be able to fully reopen my business?\u201d But what if there are better questions we could be asking ourselves to impact our future success?<\/p>\n
Mindset makes all the difference right now. Everything is changing and we all need to be ready to ensure our messages are relevant in a post COVID-19 world. Instead of hunkering down and riding out the storm, why not spend this time rethinking what matters the most to your customers, both now and when restrictions are lifted. Reevaluating strategies and service areas may lead to new products or opportunities that extend beyond the shut-down.<\/p>\n
Here are four strategic questions to help business owners prepare for the future:<\/p>\n
The implications of COVID-19 are redefining what we value and how we will spend our time and money in the future. As we said in last week’s post<\/span><\/a>, now is a great opportunity to pick up the phone and make some calls. Touch base with current and even former clients just to check in and see how they\u2019re doing. This isn\u2019t the time to sell, but to understand how your customers’ needs are changing and make intentional investments in relationships that could become new business in the future. If you have a larger client base and\/or storefront, another option may be to send out a survey via email that gauges their needs, and even seeks their opinions about how to make them most comfortable when it comes to visiting your business after the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n As you have these conversations with your customers, listen for opportunities to pivot one or more of your service areas to meet their evolving needs. We aren\u2019t saying you need to reinvent your business but some areas may need a renovation. Take a look at your value proposition and make sure that it\u2019s still relevant in a post COVID-19 world. Updating your tactics and services can give you a competitive edge when people are ready to re-engage with your business.<\/p>\n As you lead your business into new territory, you will need to adjust your messaging. We\u2019ve talked about ways we can be proactive with our marketing<\/span><\/a> while things are on pause but what about when business starts to ramp up again? New or reconstructed service areas may need a more intentional investment in strategies like video marketing or search engine optimization to help you best communicate the value you\u2019re adding to your customers\u2019 lives. <\/span><\/p>\n The answer to this question will vary greatly depending on how severely this closure has impacted your business. While we won\u2019t be able to simply \u201cpick up where we left off,\u201d we can take proactive steps now to lay a strong foundation for the future. Questions like these are helpful because while we will eventually fully reopen our economy, the landscape will never be \u201cthe same.\u201d As people adapt to new ways of living and doing business, some of these changes will last long after the pandemic ends. There are shifts in mindset, strategy, and practicality that will withstand the current turmoil and redirect consumer behavior. Therefore, we must be ready to pivot as needed and effectively communicate with our customers in light of the anticipated \u201cnew normal.”<\/p>\n Our recommendation is that you don\u2019t sit idly by waiting for restrictions to lift to start rethinking\u2014 and perhaps relaunching\u2014some aspects of your business, sales, and\/or marketing plans. We are here to help you think through these things from a both a strategic and a creative perspective, and get ready to come out swinging. Please let us know<\/span><\/a> how we can help!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Coronavirus has changed everything\u2014but do you know how it\u2019s changing your customers\u2019 attitudes and buying habits? Given all of the new dynamics we are experiencing, there are likely new ways you can meet your customers\u2019 needs that you haven\u2019t yet considered. Whether you\u2019re leading a B2B, B2C, e-commerce corporation, or a nonprofit, you have likely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1284,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cacpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Are there ways that I could pivot my business to meet an emerging demand?<\/h3>\n
3. How should I update my marketing strategy to adapt to these changes?<\/h3>\n
4. What will be my priority as restrictions begin to lift?<\/h3>\n