Now that numbers are starting to go down and vaccinations are going up, the end of COVID seems to be looming. And it couldn’t come soon enough. Most businesses (and employees!) are ready to return to normal but this pandemic will undoubtedly be more of a line of demarcation than something that lets us go back to how things used to be.
Here are some activities you can be doing to position your business for recovery in our “new” normal.
- Assess your audience. How have your audience’s needs changed? Where are your customers now? How were they impacted by COVID? What needs to change in your marketing and sales approach (maybe even product or services) to address these changes?
- Revisit what was mandatory and what you want to hold on to. During COVID businesses in some states saw mandatory shutdowns. Others had to make changes to the way they did business to remain open. What changes did you make and should you incorporate them permanently into your operations? For instance, you may have had to give up your brick and mortar and rely on delivery or online sales. Was this profitable? Could you cut significant costs and still bring in revenue if you converted permanently to online sales and services? Analyze potential long-term solutions from a cost perspective.
- Talk to your team. Everyone made sacrifices and juggled aspects of their lives during the pandemic. Talk to your team to find out what parts they think should be continued and what should be sunsetted. Maybe they loved your video calls or maybe they enjoyed creating the educational materials for your customers. Get feedback from people dealing directly with your target audience.
- Start using that engagement. Hopefully, during the pandemic you spent more time on social media engaging your audience. If you did, it’s time to start leveraging that by providing your audience with more of what they want and need so that they may take action that benefits your business. If you didn’t engage your audience during this time, it’s not too late. Start building engagement today with conversation starters. Take an online interest in people and share valuable content.
What have you done during the pandemic that worked really well for you? Share it below.
