In the past few days, millions of users have been reading, receiving, and sending messages about the pandemic that is affecting the world. Several companies are closing, but most businesses are looking for options to keep working. This was expected, but even so, the new Coronavirus will generate some financial instability, which will be more or less serious, depending on how the situation will evolve.
So far, things don’t look good for many companies.
The situation is already quite ambiguous in itself.
On the one hand, it is very good that these messages are sent, as we have to alert our customers if, due to the situation we are experiencing, we are unable to help them.
Or if, on the other hand, we can do it.
We can’t be alarmists, but we need to be clear about when the service will be restored, as well as what will happen over the next few weeks.
We need to reassure our customers and partners.
From that base, we will see some ideas that allow us to reduce the impact on our company of this financial instability.
Using email marketing, to quickly and efficiently get in touch with our entire contact base (suppliers, employees, customers).
· We are all in a similar situation.
This should be made very clear in your official messages; it is not a problem generated by your company.
It seems somewhat obvious, but it is not, and some customers who need your service may blame your company if you are unable to keep working.
You should avoid that.
It is something that affects all of us.
Still, and with that said, customers, we are unable to serve, will likely look for alternatives or start working with other suppliers.
Important:
A crisis or instable situation can “force the hand” of customers who were already thinking about starting to work with other companies.
For example.
It is very possible that some of your customers would see switching suppliers as a risk (this could involve unforeseen costs.) Before the current situation.
However, if there is no alternative now, why not find another supplier?
Perhaps your competitors have a different structure or are working from home.
For various reasons, some competitors may offer the services you can’t provide at the moment.
Therefore, it is essential to keep them informed to explain:
- Until when we will not be able to offer the service
- Insist that it is a widespread problem, which is affecting all companies
- Emphasize the last point, to avoid panic and try to convince them not to seek new suppliers
You are not wasting your efforts or commenting on the obvious, just explaining that it isn’t your fault.
And reminding your customers that you will do everything possible to help them as soon as everything is back to normal, as you have done so far.
· When everything happens, inform and consider the situation of your customers
Keep your customers up to date.
Because the crisis will pass, there is no doubt about it.
It will take a long time, or maybe not, it will impact a lot of people financially, but the crisis will pass.
And at some point, everything will have to go back to normal.
Well, when that happens, you should also contact your customers, suppliers, or partners.
And send them an email campaign to let them know that your company is back.
And that the service has been restored.
It is undoubtedly a good opportunity to encourage your customers to buy:
- With a discount, exclusive product or promotion
- Offering a communication channel to reestablish contact
- Contact customers directly, schedule a call or offer training
If you sell products or services to other companies, it is likely that they too have experienced financial instability, and you can start by organizing a meeting, at which they can address the issue of continuing the relationship between the two companies.
Your customers are very likely to appreciate this more personal treatment, as they will see that you are interested and want to find ways to get back to normal.
· While financial instability lasts
As long as the crisis lasts
Help keep your customers, suppliers, and employees calm.
Keep posting content on social media, your blog, etc. Especially so that it doesn’t look like your business has disappeared from the face of the earth.
I always defend that we must continue working on our branding strategy.
And in the current situation, it is even more critical.
Your customers shouldn’t believe that your company is experiencing problems.
You should show that the world is in turmoil.
It is important to emphasize that:
► Customers who stop working with you may not return. Therefore, you should look for viable alternatives.
Therefore, I must insist on the importance of maintaining contact, continuing to promote your brand, and trying to help your customers and partners to keep calm in the face of uncertainty.
Show that your customers matter to you.
If your subscribers don’t receive any information about what is happening, they may doubt it, and if they do, some of them may try to find alternatives, just in case.
Customers who stop working with you are unlikely to return.
Why would you go back to an old supplier if the new one offers you more security and everything you need?
If you can help them in a difficult situation, they will trust you even more.
That is why we should try to retain customers.
Because recovering them later will be more complex, if not impossible.
You could think of offering a discount.
► Newsletters to promote discounts
We should never use discounts as our only bargaining chip, but in specific situations, this strategy could bring surprising results.
As many companies are doing:
Faced with a situation whose evolution may be difficult to predict, many marketers decided to anticipate possible financial instability and began offering discounts, to increase sales and not lose so much business due to the crisis.
Not all companies will be able to follow this idea, but you need to look for alternatives to keep turning the wheel.
► Encourage customers to buy your products.
Despite the situation, depending on your business, your customers will still need your products.
If you sell something that people need to keep buying, like groceries, or something they can enjoy at home, like books, you can keep working, obviously with some changes to your sales strategy.
But you can do even better.
► You can try to recover old clients.
You can get in touch with old customers, who have already bought from you in the past, or who have shown interest but opted for other companies.
It may not be possible to recover many customers, but as we will have more free time, why not take this chance?
You don’t lose anything when you try.
You can also work with a free email marketing software.
· If you have a limited marketing budget, use the free Mailrelay account
If you have a limited marketing budget, why not work with our email marketing software?
In short, in uncertain times, we need to be careful not to lose focus; we need to keep our heads up, keep working, and talking to our customers.
To face a crisis, many business people decide to cut spending. Unfortunately, one of the first things that many of them do is to reduce marketing costs, since it tends to be seen as superfluous.
You should rethink your strategy, but if you can’t keep spending, you can work with a free email marketing software like Mailrelay. With this system, you will be able to:
- Send up to 75,000 emails per month, for free
- Manage up to 15,000 contacts
- With free technical support
Obviously, without advertising included in your campaigns and with all the features available in paid accounts.
During these days, hundreds of companies are creating an account in our free email marketing software to maintain a contact channel with their customers. At Mailrelay, we are happy to be able to help companies continue to work and make this situation a little more bearable.
Translated by Micheli.
