How to Maintain Customer Relations During COVID-19
All relationships have an emotional component and that holds true for the connection between customers and brands. The relationship between your company and consumers is established over time; nurtured by encounters along their path to multiple online and physical touchpoints; rooted in perceptions and validated by repeated interactions.
A crisis puts both the strengths and weaknesses in your relationship under a spotlight. And the coronavirus pandemic is not just any crisis. The “locked down” nature of the response to this crisis which is forcing most people to be physically separated from their friends, extended family, workplace, and favourite places is requiring organizations to adapt to a digital or remote way of doing business and is dramatically altering people’s daily experiences.
So, as a business leader, how do you help people thrive when they are stressed, fearful, and longing for authentic human connections? And how do you mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus as it upends every aspect of your business?
Here are some tips on how to maintain customer relations during this trying time;
1. Don’t let panic shake your customer focus
If you are a business-to-customer (B2C) company, your most important stakeholder right now is a human being who is craving comfort and connection, and suddenly needs a new customer experience (CX). Your first question, therefore, shouldn’t be, “How can I grab market share?” or even, “How do I boost my top line to counteract the economic carnage I’m facing?” Your most pressing question should be, “How do I support my customers right now in a meaningful, human, and relevant way?”
Even before this crisis, PwC research showed that 59 percent of global consumers surveyed felt companies had lost touch with the human element of customer experience; 75 percent of the customers surveyed preferred to interact with a human versus an automated machine. And now, people might be struggling to navigate the many friction points of the “new normal” and need a human touch even more.
For instance, making purchasing choices for essential items without being able to try out or see products in person could be difficult for some. The same is true for getting advice online or solving problems, an example being telehealth, without direct human contact.
As a result, what customers care about most right now might be changing. Brands with the best price, coolest product, or most memorable marketing campaign might not have an advantage compared with those that exhibit emotional intelligence and communicate with care, honesty, and empathy, and build trust as a result.
Because of the sensitivity of human emotions, customers will always want to be seen, heard and understood. This sensitivity may increase during this pandemic.
Are you reaching out to help them or to sell them something?
Does your outreach feel authentic and caring or does it appear self-serving?
Keep in mind that the impact of the actions you take today will probably outlast the pandemic and define the loyalty people have to your brand and your products. So the messages you put out in the marketplace must be grounded in the actual experience and needs of your customers. And you must match these messages by your credible ability to deliver. If you can earn customers’ trust in this way, you’ll build a connection today and in the future.
2. Find ways to make digital more human
B2C companies typically encounter customers on multiple channels. Up until now, you’ve probably prioritized efficiency transitioning human interactions where possible to digital or automated ones. The irony in that shift is that now, in the time of COVID-19, it’s no longer good enough to just make those experiences simple and efficient. You must be more human across those virtual channels, too, because people can’t get that touch in other ways. So think about how you can embed human interactions; be honest with your customers about what’s changed, and surprise them with unexpected, caring gestures.
3. Forging the future together
We all become more human when we’ve gone through pain; We all become more deeply connected when we’ve suffered together. Those emotional realities are also valid when it comes to relationships between businesses and consumers. If we suffer together and yet support each other, those bonds will only strengthen over the long term. They can even form a new basis for how brands and consumers can connect in the future.
Ultimately, COVID-19 will teach us a great deal about the true nature of interaction and collaboration. This collaboration will lead to a deeper appreciation of putting people first. Giving customers the sense of priority makes them emotionally connected to your brand. Thus making them interested in the future of your company.
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Culled from: Strategy+Business