As businesses prepare to reopen, one of the most important questions they are asking themselves is how to effectively communicate their plans to their employees and customers. Customers need to have a clear understanding of any changes to products; hours of operations and service availability and businesses should explain any new health and safety protocols they put into place to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
A critical step to the successful reopening of businesses is creating a sense of confidence in the business’s approach to providing a safe and secure environment to conduct business.
If you are planning your communication strategy, here are some tips to help inspire confidence in your employees and customers.
Create a unified message that is timely, relevant, empathetic, and addresses your customers' needs.
Update your website with the big picture and the general plan.
- If you have social interaction on your website like chat features, emphasize the key aspects of how your reopening
- Spread the word via your social media channels from when your business is reopening to the specifics of your plan to keep your customers safe at your location. Keep the posts timely and relevant.
- Create a newsletter that outlines your business strategy and send it to all of your customers.
- Create a signage program for your physical location that conveys your expectations and new procedures that are in place at the facility to protect your customers and employees. Effective signage is easy to ready and is simple to understand.
- Update taglines on emails, invoices, and purchase orders or other touchpoints in the business cycle to remind your customers of your new procedures and how it might affect them while doing business.
When customers come into your location, show that you practice what you preach, if you require a social distancing and a mask, make sure your employees are practicing those procedures.