Any type of crisis will affect businesses by causing disruptions to their supply chains, production systems, workforce, and ability to service their clients.
Even though the world is going mad, any responsible company owner will strive to put in place an effective and dependable communicating strategy. We can help you retain existing customers, secure new business, and reach new audiences.
The Quicker You Adapt, the Better for Your Business
Prepare Your Team
The way to do business and provide customer support changed drastically during this crisis. Prepare your team by introducing it to new policies and the guidelines by which they will be working.
Make sure they understand what is happening and how they should respond to the ongoing events. This is pivotal for the survival of your business.
Create an Internal “Source of Truth”
Create a document with all the key information and share it with all the relevant people in your company. The page should be easy to update and contain:
- Details about the impact of the crisis on your business;
- List of all decision-makers;
- Changes in customer support policies;
- Guidelines with pre-approved and appropriate language for speaking with customers;
- Time and date of upcoming updates;
This will help the members in your customer-facing team with the execution of their duties.
Inform Your Customers About Any Changes
Have your customer-support team predict the most common client-related issues in advance. Use the gathered information to post an update on your website and social media. This will offer your clients a reliable source of information and will help your team from getting flooded with inquiries.
Create a Set of Prepared Answers
While the posted update will answer some of your customer’s questions, the remainder of their inquiries will have to be handled by your support team. To make their job easier and prevent having countless calls on-hold, set up a list of prepared answers. Focus on topics such as refunds, prices, delivery time, working hours, etc.
Use a Positive Language
People are stressed and panicking during this crisis. Instruct your employees to be polite, calm, and positive during their customer communications. Have them provide clear, helpful, and realistic answers while maintaining an empathic tone.
Your honesty will be appreciated by your clients and will help them better understand exactly what you can do for them. Also, it will earn you their business.
Support Your Employees
Care for Your Team
Your customer support team is your first and only line of defense against a wave of worried clients. It is also your most reliable tool for the acquisition of new customers.
Make sure to look after it. Bring additional help is necessary. Have your employees take a break to recharge their batteries whenever it’s possible.
Avoid Automation
While having prepared answers will help your workers, they shouldn’t sound too robotic. Automation will repel potential customers and will harm your business. Make all dialogues personal.
Use their first names and listen to their needs. Offer solutions and tell them about your other capabilities. Sometimes, people don’t know what they need until you tell them what you can do. Make them understand that they can thrive with your help.
This crisis is challenging for both individuals and companies. But with the right adjustments, you can maintain your clientele. Moreover, you can lay down the foundations on which your company will survive and then thrive once the state of emergency is over.
Our goal is to give you pointers on how to improve your customer communication during a stressful time. Use your newly acquired knowledge to help your business. Prepare your employees and give your customers the support they deserve.
Subscribe to receive new and helpful articles that can help you during this crisis.
Sign Up For SBA Emergency Loan Info & Other News
