As the world is still speculating just how far reaching the Coronavirus will be across the globe in terms of business continuity, healthcare services and personal impact, some important aspects about business operations have come to light.

To put this in context, we’ve found that during a market upturn as well as downturn, much of the current news and hub bub doesn’t touch upon the impacts we might feel in the business-to-business (B2B) community, yet.  Our experience has shown that B2B generally starts to see the effects of the mainstream market a few months after we are hearing about things on the news.

As some industries start settling into their new normal, ours will probably still be adjusting to a shifting landscape. So, it seems like a good time to see what we can be doing now to minimize disruptions we may feel over the next few months. The two places this needs to happen are in your short term marketing strategy as well as your long term, since both are critical to the overall outcome your business will face.

Short term marcom strategy suggestions:

• Create a dedicated page for ongoing updates involving the crisis that includes ways to contact key personnel and links to critical resources.
• Use your company blog as a place to keep customers and prospects updated on developments happening within the company to show things are business as usual within your company’s framework.
• Start posting content now about business continuity, successes within the company and things you are doing today to meet the challenged you may face tomorrow.
• Address key issues you may experience using an email campaign that identifies potential gaps and provides adequate resources to help customers through the hiccups.

Long term marcom strategy suggestions:

• Keep an eye on your company’s overall messaging. Who you are hasn’t changed and ultimately, customers are going to look for that familiar comfort they had in doing business with you.
• Reflect on the critical terms and phrases clients used in expressing business needs and evaluate these for your ongoing digital programs: AdWords, Retargeting materials, SEO. As new issues are brought to top of mind, they may remain for a bit, even after the crisis has passed.
• Shift the tone of your email campaign to focus on business growth or successes, versus updates on how your business is evolving in the face of the crisis.

Now, put yourself in the shoes of your customer and think about what they will be needing to hear from your company.

First and foremost, customer needs don’t quiet down when the road gets bumpy.

Although the quantity of emails we received over the past few weeks diminished, they didn’t stop, and we are seeing them ramp up again.  It’s probably the same on your end, but the way customers are approaching business may look different.   They are still interested in the products and services you offer, but may be asking more direct questions about your processes, current operational policies and access you may have to other business resources.

Make sure you anticipate business disruptions and plan for ways to communicate with your customers.

Second, remember that you’re good at what you do.

Why are your customers working with you in the first place?  Because you helped them solve a business problem.  So, help them solve this one.  Although some of the events of the COVID-19 crisis are unprecedented, there are things that, as a business, you still have within our control.  This includes how you communicate with clients, how you manage those relationships and how you allocate resources to make sure you are providing the best service possible during this difficult time.

Be a resource, be accessible and be honest.

Third, now is the time to innovate your business practices to meet client needs

For many of us, shifting to a work from home model may not have been as difficult as other industries.  But now that you’ve set up your home base, what do you need to be doing to keep getting your business message out to customers and prospects?

If there are certain business practices that you know aren’t serving you most efficiently, now is the time to change.  Sales people can’t knock on doors right now, so what marketing tools do they need to keep in front of their contacts?

Make sure your sales literature is up to par and readily accessible on your website.
(Hint: Cost-effective file sharing platforms, like DropBox, may be a good way to quickly ensure literature and brochures are available to all team members)

Lastly, make sure the message is getting to the people that need to hear it

Now is not the time for your sales team to have siloed contact lists. Do you know how your company contacts are being managed?  Putting a simple sales management tool in place that doubles as a marketing automation platform is a great way to quickly centralize information, while giving your sales team a method of communicating with customers using more-established nurture streams.  Many of our clients have integrated SharpSpring for a minimal cost using our agency umbrella model, versus some of the larger platforms that typically have a much higher cost of entry while offering the same feature set.

Centralize contacts as well as information for the most effective communications strategy.

Setting the stage for tomorrow

Know that the curve will flatten and you will ride out this wave, just as you’ve handled other disruptions in the past.  So, we encourage all B2B companies to view today’s business environment as an opportunity to change some business practices to help you be ready for tomorrow, and continue to build on the reputation you have worked so hard to establish.  These things will not go unnoticed by your customers, or by those looking for new partners during this difficult time.