You are Selling Trust, Safety, and Confidence
White Paper By Larry Sells
April 17, 2020
So we were flying along with no issues. The stock market was soaring at a record high, unemployment at a record low, small businesses were prospering locally and we had disposable income to do almost anything we wanted. Then IT HAPPENED—Coronavirus- 19.
As a result, we were asked to stay home, stay away from people and some us were asked to close our businesses. From home we watched the stock market tank, unemployment soar and suddenly we found ourselves with our businesses closed and some of us were without any income and saw our savings and investments dwindle away with no relief in sight.
I have learned over the years that one can choose to become a victim or do something about your
situation in a proactive manner. While we ourselves cannot solve the Coronavirus-19 pandemic we can and need to work on our businesses now and how to pivot our businesses to fight back. There are many things to consider.
WHAT YOU NEED TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR BUSINESS
If we think we will continue to do business like we did before we will be woefully surprised. Now is the time to think about what you are selling and it is just not only a product, service or other offerings anymore. What do I mean? Yes you are selling a product, service and other offerings but parallel with that we need to be thinking about how we do that with the customer in mind. You will also be selling TRUST, SAFETY, and CONFIDENCE. As an example, if your business is a restaurant, social distancing will still be in effect. Are your clients coming back if you do not make changes? Some will but mostly they probably may not. Now you will be expected to seat patrons at least six feet apart—and probably will need to take reservations. You will need to pivot your business to augment the lost seating revenue and look for ways to create alternative revenue streams such as complete cooked boxed meals to go and become a grocery store to with offerings for delivery or pick up among other offerings. Your clients need assurance that they can come patronize your business and not get sick. They also need to see the other services
you offer and how you are ensuring their safety.
All changes by any business will need to be very visible to your clients so they can have confidence in your business. Hand sanitizers, wipes, partitions that serve as buffers for patrons and more need to be very obvious and seen by your customers to show that you are going all out to keep them safe.
Remember TRUST, SAFETY and CONFIDENCE!
WHAT ELSE?
Other businesses such as retail operations that do not have websites will need to ensure they have one enabled where clients can purchase your products and services. Home delivery and store pick up will be musts in a non-contact manner. Other operations will need more than ever to utilize videos to walk clients through products and service offerings posted on your website and social media. Service businesses will need to utilize technologies like ZOOM or Facetime video chats for a one-to-one client relationship for consultations, providing quotes, etc. Providing contests and other interactive type events also will be essential. You will need to become a writer, or hire this specialty, for blogs, social media postings and videos as well as other print media that will publish your informative articles. Yes it is a lot but a new normal and necessary.
MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS IS CRITICAL. THINK MICRO-LOCAL MARKETING NOW!
Above all you have to tell your clients what you are doing and how you are doing it! Marketing now is more essential than ever for your business. You have to let your existing clients and prospective new clients know what you are doing and all about your offerings. You will need to incorporate ALL forms of advertising to include, web, social media, mailers, newsletters, email blasts, videos and local print advertising to help you. The more micro-local you can be in your advertising approach will be most helpful for your business growth. Remember your local business is patronized by local residents. Look for assistance with local advertising professionals to help you along and that have the local area knowledge. Tying a portion of your profits to a local cause will go a long way with clients and show your local connection with the community. People want to patronize businesses that help make our community a vibrant place to live and that does something to help people and organizations in need within our community. We are all in this together. Remember that it is all about TRUST, SAFETY, CONFIDENCE and MICRO-LOCAL MARKETING NOW!
Let’s get busy.