The year 2020 came with a lot of surprises. Had you told us in January that our entire team would be moving from a brick-and-mortar to a full remote team workforce, we would have been shocked to say the least! Luckily, the transition to virtual actually made so much sense for us and our business that we now wonder why we didn't do it sooner.
Now, we know that the Covid-19 pandemic upended the world and forced many businesses to make drastic changes to stay afloat. Many businesses rely on that in-person experience for their services and products to be delivered. And while they have had to shift to masks and sanitation to stay in-person, their digital store-front is more important than ever.
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So if you are a mostly in-person service-based company, what can you do to optimize business in this mostly virtual world?
1. Let your community know you are open for business
The first step is to reach out to existing or former clients. If you have a CRM or list of emails, start there. Email them regularly to let them know you are still open and what purchasing with them looks like now.
The next step is to let the community and potential clients know you are open. Ask yourself, “Where are the people I want to be clients?”Are they on Facebook, Instagram or Google. A targeted ad to your community creating awareness about your company will bring attention, ease minds and possibly cause interest in your service.
2. Communicate new policies
If you are service-based business who in some way relies on in-person experiences, you likely have new policies in place. Lack of knowledge regarding these policies might keep clients away because of fear or confusion. Use announcement banners, popups and additional pages on your website to communicate to the community what you are doing for their safety. Social posts and blogging is also a great way to reach out to the community and get them to your website for more.
3. Create more value
Ask yourself what can you do right now that offers value to your clients? For example, if you were a pool installation company and you knew that people are renovating more and more during this time but you also knew that people were going about it all wrong, you could write a blog or a series of blogs detailing what people need to know about hiring a pool company. This creates great value for people in your market and increases your Search Engine Optimization efforts.
4. Get clear on your messaging
Likely when the world shifts like this, businesses have to shift too. And while you are trying to keep up with the ever changing policies, customer needs and so on – you may have forgotten to take a look at your marketing message. Has your buyer persona or avatar changed this year? Does your brand communicate who you are and who you serve today?
While working with companies on their new websites, no matter what stage they are in their business, we have noticed that the marketing message is ever changing. In order to stay competitive and relevant the processes, products and way of delivery has to adapt and with that comes new branding and new messaging.
When was the last time you updated your brand or website, with all the recent change it might be the best opportunity to look at that now.
Now, if you had the fortune and ability like us to go 100% virtual, you now have opportunity for a greater reach.
1. Consider an audience that is beyond your area code
Now is the time to stretch and grow beyond your normal boundaries. Where can you serve that you have not served before? What clients are you best for and where do they do business now? We can help you develop a strategy specific to your market, your company and your current goals to branch out and get more business all over the US.
2. Rethink your sales experience what good customer service looks like
Gone are the days when you can offer coffee and a tour around your office with strategically placed awards on the wall to that person who just dropped by for a “quick” consultation. Your star service person cannot lean-in and shake the client's hand while guaranteeing them their best work. You know that doesn't mean that the best work won't be completed because your team is more dedicated than ever. So how do you communicate this virtually?
Communication is key. Communication looks different now. Potential clients need to know where to go to get quality information. Who is going to reach out them and where they are going to reach out. Is it a zoom link? a phone call? This should be crystal clear.
Be available when they need you as much as possible. Do this by adding you phone number as well as a Calendly link at the bottom of your email that says “click here to schedule a time to meet with me.”
Internet speed and connectivity are number one concerns these days. Do what you can to make sure that you are connected and ready for connection. Offer unique meeting places like Zoom or safe in-person meetings.
3. Consider a safe in-person meeting space
We know that there is nothing more relationship building than meeting face-to-face, but we also know that there are safety concerns involved with that at this time and large office spaces create over-head that can be avoided in a digital world. So how do you create opportunities for in-person connections right now? For us, it has been partnering with a co-working space to create collaborative meetings with our team and in-person meetings with our clients for those who are comfortable. In the future it could be mean outdoor events or socially distanced networking and trainings. In this new and ever changing environment, it is all about flexibility and adaptation.
Our community is so important to us, we want to reach out to all of you and ask how this virtual shift has impacted your business and what you have done to pivot with all the most recent changes. Please feel free to comment below.
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