There’s so much conflicting information and opinion at the minute about what you can and can’t do. And as a result, you may be missing opportunities…
“Sell!” “Don’t sell!”
“Market!” “Don’t market!”
“I am furloughed so I can’t market my business!”
The fact of the matter is that unless you are legally prevented from selling, you have to put food on the table so to speak.
Being furloughed (depending on which interpretation of the guidelines you take) means not doing any business-related work. Not selling, not carrying out your usual daily tasks, not billing clients.
But…
This doesn’t mean you can’t communicate.
It doesn’t mean you can’t call up your clients, partners and trusted contacts to check in with them and see how they are coping.
This doesn’t mean you can’t call up your furloughed employees to find out how they are and check they are ok.
It doesn’t mean radio silence. It doesn’t mean missing opportunities.
Communicating isn’t work
Even if you’ve downed tools in your business, you still need to stay visible, and you can do that without selling or blatantly promoting your business.
Stay sociable on social media. Share updates and comment on other people’s posts. Call your clients, arrange video calls with employees – keep speaking to people. Add value.
Those business owners and employees that now have more time on their hands are spending more time on social media. They are attending more webinars, listening to more podcasts, consuming more content.
This is your time to increase your customer touchpoints. Your time to get noticed. Your time to stand out.
Researching your client needs isn’t work
Over the last three months, it’s likely that your clients’ needs will have changed, or your type of client has changed.
The only way that you will find out their revised needs is to communicate. To listen and to talk.
Every business that has been impacted by recent events still has challenges, needs and frustrations.
Your job is to understand them to see how you can solve them. Then your touchpoints need to be adding value and creating an impact so they want you to solve their problems.
Learning isn’t work
Furloughed workers can still undertake training – personal and professional development isn’t work. You and your teams can take this time to learn new skills and build on existing knowledge.
What online training, seminars or workshops can you attend? How could you upskill your furloughed team to keep them motivated and sharp ready for their return to work?
Even if you are not furloughed, how can you use any spare time that you have to develop a new skill, stay in touch with your audience and add value?
Every interaction with an existing or new contact is a touchpoint. An opportunity to get you and your brand in front of your audience.
Planning for the future isn’t work
Rather than worrying about what you can’t do, worry about what you can do and what you should do. Don’t listen to others; what does your gut say? How can you use the time when you’re not working or working less to put yourself in a stronger position once you get back to work?
What content can you create for use now and ready for when you are back open for business – blogs, email campaigns, social media posts, adverts, lead magnets, eBooks, videos, podcasts? The list is endless.
Don’t down tools right now as you will finish up with a dry pipeline when business is back open. Good businesses continued their customer touchpoints, great businesses increased them. Use this as an opportunity to increase your customer touchpoints; stay front of mind, stay ahead of your competitors and stay in business.
Related resources:
- Is it time for a client cull?
- Why you should segment your offering
- What has San Francisco got to do with your business
Are you missing opportunities to connect and impact your customers? In today’s competitive markets, customers need to be wowed and actively involved from the word ‘go’.
If you want to provide the best customer experience for both new and existing customers, access our tool here to get started: tendo-uk.com/touchpoint
