Communication Strategies That Can Work for a Crisis — or Any Challenge
How is your business communicating during the coronavirus situation? Do you have a strategy in place for times like this, or are you shooting from the hip and reacting rather than executing?
The marketing/public relations world often calls this crisis communications, but really, it is any situation that threatens the integrity, reputation, or health of your company. It could be a flood, fire, extreme weather, or illness. Whatever it is, it’s important to be prepared with an effective, thorough strategy for communicating with your customers.
Where do you start? Consider a few key points to remember as you’re building your message:
- Try not to focus on the negative but be honest and truthful.
- Reassure the customer, then move on to how you’re addressing the situation.
- Emphasize what the future holds.
- Build your own individual message, rather than using what you see in the media or from other companies.
Once you have your approach in mind, it’s time to determine how you’re going to get the message out. Certainly, this is an unprecedented situation with total shutdown in many areas; but the reality is, if you had a traumatic event like a fire, you could be facing the same. That means it’s time to get creative in how you reach your customers. Consistency is critical: Your customers must know you’re there for them, just like always. How can you do that?
What to Do if You’re a Grower
If you don’t have a regular customer enewsletter, now is the time to start one. If you do have one, it’s time to inject some new life into it. You can share anything you create via enews, your website, YouTube, and social media. A few ideas:
- Live culture tips for spring’s hottest varieties
- Virtual greenhouse tours showing what’s coming next
- New variety reviews
- Show production is still on track, follow a crop from beginning to shipping
What to Do if You’re a Retailer
This is the time to get creative with your communication, not go with the status quo. Use every communication tool you have at hand, and then some. A few ideas:
- Promote gardening
- Educate your customers with new tips
- Hold a Facebook Live event demonstrating how to set up a raised garden
- Create daily videos with a product of the day
- Offer specials of the weekend and a bonus if they buy and then show you how they use it
What to Do if You’re a Supplier
Don’t let lack of literal face time stop you from seeing customers. Your tech support and sales teams can still connect with a bit of creativity in times when they can’t be on the road. Consider:
- Video chats with FaceTime or Facebook Messenger
- Group meetings with Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Google Duo
- Weekly video tech tips featuring a different tech person each time
- Question of the week addressing the most common spring challenges
Ideas for Everyone
- Personalize your channels by featuring your people as often as possible
- Keep up morale with a weekly employee feature
- Invite engagement with a photo or video contest
Did you have a spring preview or open house planned? Get creative with a VIP event for your loyal customers. This is where that enews list comes in handy. Invite them to a special live event where they’ll be the first to see the newest varieties for spring or the latest specials you’ll be offering. You could even promise a special gift or offer if they attend.
Be proactive. Be consistent. And be positive. Your customers will take their cue from you and will keep coming back once the world — and your business — are back to normal.
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