We are two weeks into the lockdown here in the UK. Our Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital and the number of infections and deaths only appears to be increasing day by day.  Our Queen has made a motivational almost ‘wartime’ speech to the nation and the true economic impact of this COVID-19 pandemic is starting to sink in.

I’m working from my home office and attempting to stay in touch with my client base, many of whom have taken the decision to baton down the hatches as if waiting for a storm to blow over!  The problem is, this storm could take months maybe years to ‘blow-over’ by which time their business could be at best forgotten or worst gone bust!

In reality, businesses are in one of three states right now:

Booming:

Supermarkets and online stores selling household items and even hobbies for the lockdown are enjoying sales figures only usually seen at Christmas!

Frustrated:

Businesses with a product or service they could sell right now but don’t have an e-commerce website or means of managing their staff remotely.  Training companies that failed to set up that e-learning package and businesses that didn’t get round to building their intranet or put all their clients and accounts on a cloud-based accounts and CRM package.

Frozen:

Sadly, some businesses like airlines and travel companies are in deep trouble as people simply can’t travel and bookings can’t be taken without any idea of the lockdown being lifted.  Some gyms and theatres are attempting to provide a service for their clients but they can’t provide use of their facilities and memberships like mine are frozen.

So what exactly can you do to market your business in these unprecedented times?

Whichever state your business is in right now you should focus on your customers and think about their needs.

How can you adjust your offering to the new reality we are currently in? For example:

1. Travel companies can keep reminding their clients of all the fabulous destinations they can travel to in the future
2. Gyms and fitness companies can provide virtual workouts for their clients and keeping both their trainers and members happy
3. Restaurants can deliver meals to peoples homes or even sell products and recipes to help people eat healthily at home
4. Creative agencies can help their clients design electronic versions of their brochures and leaflets

My point is simple, think creatively, innovate and there will be a way forward!

It may be difficult to sell in your services right now but by offering you ongoing support in whatever way you can you will be keeping the conversation going and hopefully you’ll be your clients first call when they’re ready to talk.

Finally, if you haven’t made much effort with Social Media, perhaps this is the perfect opportunity. How good is your database or CRM? This could be the perfect opportunity to get your business set up using cloud-based platforms and should this ever happen again.. you’ll be better prepared!

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