Business owners are the “first responders” when there’s a change in the economy, and the current health crisis caused a major one. So now it’s time to plan for business after the shutdown.
In the past weeks 250,000 US retail stores have closed their doors. But not every business is suffering: some companies are benefitting from their competition being sidelined. Walmart and Amazon alone are hiring 250,000 new workers to keep up with increased sales.
Business after the Shutdown
What’s your plan to grow as we all get back to business?
Things are slow for many of us. Smart businesses are planning for life after COVID-19, because when things get back to normal (or the “new normal”) it will come fast. And pent up demand will benefit those who took this time to plan.
How are you operating right now? What has happened in your business? More importantly what’s happening for your clients? How have they changed? What are their new challenges? How can you change to meet those challenges? Where are the opportunities? For some of us that might mean big changes.
An ancient Greek philosopher said “The only constant in life is Change.” Today we have two choices:
- Hope that life goes back to “the way it was,” or
- Think, plan, and work to make change work for you, to emerge stronger on the other side.
How can you work to make sure you prosper when business opens again?
- Keep in touch with clients and prospects in every way that you can
- Call them
- Email them: individually, or with email blasts
- Make recommendations: making referrals to customers about others in your network shows that you’re thinking of their future
- Send email newsletters
- Blog
- Meet Virtually (Facetime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, etc)
- Podcast
- Video Podcasts
- Write Customer Testimonials
- Review your digital marketing: your business listings, reviews, SEO, etc.
- If presentations were delayed, make the better now so you’re prepared later
- If you had a weakness before, work on strengthening it
- Reassess your business: what’s been working, and what hasn’t
- What’s your competition doing? Don’t lose sight of them.
- Get help: you’ll find seasoned business advisors who would love to help you at score.org. And it’s free.
- Are there new ways you can help your customer? Ask them. Then figure out how to deliver.
Have questions on any of these ideas? Email me or call me at 203-655-3920.
Casey Hart is President and founder of Informer Messages on hold. Informer Messages, like networking, are a way to start the conversations that help you sound more professional and sell more. For more information email us by clicking here.