The evolving situation with the outbreak of COVID-19 could be impacting your business in a great way. Observing the guidelines from health authorities on preventative measures is everyone’s responsibility to minimize the spread.
From sourcing to delivery of goods and services, you could face hurdles. How prepared is your business to adapt in the midst of the constantly changing situations? The following is a list of considerations as you seek ways to continue to serve your customers.
- Store traffic
Traffic to your store likely would have gone down significantly as customers choose to stay home. Phone orders and e-commerce are alternatives for remote shopping. With the availability of diverse delivery services, there are many options to get your products to the customers. For companies in the service industries such as repair shops, consider going to the customer and deliver the service on-site. Offer pick-up and drop-off services, which add great appeal and convenience.
- Customer support
There are many channels available to connect with the customers. They include phone, email, chat-bot, and social media. Choose one or two channels which you would like to drive your support traffic to. It is easier to train resources quickly when you focus your energy.
- Supplier backlogs
Depending on the operation and location of your suppliers, their businesses might not be able to supply what your business needs. Seek alternative suppliers in local vicinity or from sources within the country. The inevitable delays could be minimized with decisive actions and decisions.
- Internal processes
The need to adapt your operations to meet changing needs could mean reallocating resources, rapid training, and foregoing lower priority work. Expedient change implementation requires your team’s readiness to step up and collaborate. During uncertain times, you would need leaders who are prepared to corral their teams together. Success with quick adaptation hinges on simplicity. Pare unnecessary rules and procedures, both for your employees and customers.During uncertain times, you would need leaders who are prepared to corral their teams together. Share on X
- Remote work
Technology, fortunately, has facilitated remote work quite eloquently. Allowing your employees work remotely enables business continuity while minimizing the spread of the coronavirus. If remote work is new to your business, it might be a good time to test drive it.
- Technology utilization
As the need to reallocate resources increases, you might reach a threshold that the level of service could not be sustained. This is where technology could be deployed quickly to replace or shift work from one area to another, from business to suppliers and/or customers. A slight change in a software application could eliminate process steps, redirect work, and mechanize onerous work. It is an opportune time to simplify, streamline and standardize.
- Leadership
Strong leadership is needed to make decisions and communicate them. Whether it is a person or committee, this hub has the responsibilities to digest up-to-date information on the situation and respond with appropriate actions. The lack of solid leadership would lead to chaotic, knee-jerk reactions, and confusion.
As no one could tell how long the interim changes might need to be in place, it is prudent to keep a close eye on the effects of these changes. On a positive note, this outbreak might teach every business how to be more flexible and creative with their approaches to sourcing, product and service delivery, and running their operations. Your business might end up with changes that are here to stay.
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