There is fear and panic in almost every home, office, community, and country during this season where a pandemic has broken out across the continents of the world. It’s been decades since a similar pandemic broke out and as such most people do not know and have no pragmatic plans that can help manage their business in this season. In this article, I will state 3 ways you can manage your business and ensure the best practices during this period.
1. Reduce the Probability of Spread by Providing the Necessary Education:
The first way is to ensure your staff (skilled and unskilled) are well educated on the pandemic and how to keep themselves safe at all times. Your staff must observe precautionary measures before, during, and after working hours to ensure they are safe. They should ensure that:
● They wash their hands regularly with soap and water whether the hand is visibly dirty or not.
● Frequent usage of sanitizers when they are outdoors and do not have access to soap and water for handwashing.
● Staff should always cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing; tissue should be thrown into a bin immediately after use! Some people recommend covering the mouth and nose with a flexed elbow when sneezing or coughing but let’s take note that the virus can be on your skin or shirt if this is done.
● Avoid close contact when you are experiencing a cough or fever.
● It’s customary to shake hands with clients, customers, and business partners, however this isn’t ideal during this period. A fist-bang, nod, wave or bow is ideal during this period
● I recommend soap, water, and hand sanitizers are provided at the entrance of all offices
● Doorknobs, bars of staircases, and also washrooms should also be disinfected at least once every 4 hours by cleaners.
● Any employee who shows high fever with coughs and sneezing should be isolated and tested immediately; you can’t risk getting your human resource infected.
2. Using of Technology & Lower-Contact Business Operations:
Another pragmatic way to manage your business during this period is to use more technology and minimizing contact during business operations. Unless extremely necessary, you could adopt a phone call, video call (Whatsapp/Skype/Zoom), or even an email instead of visiting clients for meetings. This would help reduce contact. Also, in jobs where “working from home” is possible, it should be executed immediately.
Also, instead of having a lot of people visit your office to make purchases, this would be a great time to use online purchasing. Get a website if you don’t have one, or use social media e-commerce shops to list your products and get your customers buying products online; they can have the products delivered to their doorstep instead(The dispatch riders should also go through thorough training to ensure they follow relevant protocols during delivery).
Also, list your products with known classifieds businesses to access many buyers in a split second (You can also check out businesses via Google or classifieds companies in your country; Eg. For Ghana, Tonaton.com would be ideal).
Instead of visiting many shops to find products, check them online, and find those that can have it delivered to your home; this would also help reduce contact. (Send a message or call for a private consultation on how to set up your website/e-commerce shops and boost your sales despite the pandemic)
3. Keep Your Customers Engaged (Very Important)
As a business, this is the best time to keep your customers engaged with messages to show empathy, reduce the fear, panic, and frustration, and also to let them know you are with them within this season; give them tips to keep them safe and continuously keep them engaged.
In this 21st century, customers don’t just want your products/services, they want to feel a part and parcel of your organization. They see your brand as a “Person”, and they want to engage with your brand as a “Person”. They definitely would appreciate messages, comfort, and counsel from your brand which shows that you really care about them, and not just their money.
Use email marketing, SMS marketing, social media, and all other media you can use to keep your customers engaged with communication. This will increase the level of loyalty your customers have for you; it will also convert some potential customers into clients sooner than later.
Daniel Sarpong Jnr
Africa’s Greatest Sales Coach