by Monica McKay, Jonathon McKay & Sarah Ahern

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has impacted all businesses in some way. Some businesses have been shuttered, others have pivoted their service offerings to protect public health, and most have seen more digital transformation in the last few months than in the last few years combined.

It has been a challenging few months for all of us, yet we are united with other businesses as we all do our best to navigate these unchartered waters. We are learning together as we go. Now more than ever it is so important to be a good listener. As we listen to our leaders, our customers, our employees, and each other, we can learn what works and what doesn’t. 

To best help our clients, PATH would like to share a few things we’ve heard and learned in order to minimize COVID-19’s impact on your business. 

Identify Why Your Business is “Essential”

The phrase “essential business” means different things to different people. In the COVID-19 world, that definition can be the difference between a business staying open or closing its doors for a while. 

Businesses arise and thrive because they are serving a human need or desire, whether it’s solving a problem, providing a convenience that improves the quality of life, or serving a higher purpose. A business also employs people who use their earnings to care for their families and provide basic needs.

This pandemic has forced us to rethink and prioritize what is essential and why. During a recession, people spend money on what they deem essential, and usually, discretionary spending decreases. Being an essential business is not black and white. All businesses provide an essential experience, depending on your perspective. 

In order to ensure you are “essential” to your customers, you should:

• Realign around a human-centered purpose and vision

• Engage deeper in customer and employee listening processes to ensure you clearly understand the needs of your people

• Identify the key gaps in those needs and prioritize those action plans

Why is your business essential to your customers?

Stick to Your Brand Promise

One of the basic principles of managing through a crisis is sticking to your brand promise. Your brand promise revolves around the experiences and values your customers have every time they engage with you, and it should touch every aspect of your company. It is what makes you stand out from your competition.

At PATH, we know the best way to grow is through our existing customers and employees. We collect data about our clients’ customer and employee experiences and use that information to help determine the best path forward. Now more than ever, customer and employee retention is a priority. Losing customers will lead to lower revenue and an even greater contraction in business than what we are facing now.

Show You Care

We’ve been staying especially close to our customers during this pandemic, asking them how they are doing, discussing their biggest challenges, and looking for new ways and processes to add to our partnership. 

Our efforts paid off with one of our long-term manufacturing partners. We revisited an existing customer service survey we had created for them and partnered with them to make a few changes. First, we recognized the need to end the survey with an acknowledgment of the challenging situation we are all in. Instead of closing the survey with, “Thank you for doing business with us,” we changed it to, “Thank you for keeping America moving. Your dedication and hard work are greatly appreciated.”

Second, we added a question to the survey that asked customers how or if the coronavirus affected the experience they were receiving. We learned that, across the board, customers were feeling overwhelmed and minor things that normally wouldn’t have mattered had become a big deal.  In addition, while most customers had no service concerns, a few mentioned an issue with parts availability. 

Our manufacturing partner responded to that feedback quickly. They discussed the heightened intensity of customer interactions with their employees and provided management support.  Although the factory was temporarily shut down, they began producing the much-needed parts safely and efficiently so they could be more readily available nationwide. The response from their customers was overwhelming—they felt heard, and our manufacturing partner felt supported. Best of all, the manufacturer was able to stay true to its brand promise of people first. 

We’re all in this together, and we will continue to listen and learn from each other about the best ways to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on your business. If you’d like more information about how we serve our customers, please connect with us.