I hope you, your family, friends and co-workers are well. This crisis reaffirms to us that our health and safety are paramount to other concerns, but it’s natural to feel anxious about our economic future.
Just as washing your hands is the best defense against the coronavirus, there are steps you can take now to put your business in a better position to ride out this crisis. Even if your business is temporarily shut down, this is a time to become more engaged and more invested in your relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and other stakeholders.
Communication is king. What to say, when to say it, to whom to say it, how to say it, where to say it – these may be some of the only business activities you can control right now. They are the business equivalency of washing your hands. Here are some proactive steps you can take now:
1. Write a short narrative of the status of your business and what steps you’ve taken to keep everyone safe and to protect the business and your employees’ jobs. This narrative will be the basis for your other communications. You may not have good answers for everything, but this exercise may prompt you to take action that had not occurred to you.
2. Share this with your employees. If everyone already is working remotely, email it to them, and make sure they know how to get in touch with you. If your office has not shut down, consider the mixed message of calling a group meeting to discuss how you, as an employer, are working hard to keep them safe. If you feel uneasy about having an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting, that’s a good signal to consider sending everyone home.
3. Email your customers about your status. Don’t assume they already know your situation, and don’t use this as a sales pitch to drum up business. Be honest, straightforward and open to further communication. Express concern for them and ask if there’s anything you can do to help them. Even if you can’t help, your customers will appreciate the effort.
4. Using the narrative, post a message on your company’s website and Facebook page. If you don’t have a website, get one. If your company doesn’t have a Facebook page, get one. These are business communication essentials, and during this crisis, it will be the only way anyone knows anything about your business.
Communicating well is not a guarantee of success, but it may be the best step you can take today to get through this crisis.
Mark Lambert
3/16/2020
225-937-8113