Businesses across the globe are currently facing challenging times. At Business Success Consulting Group, we know that we are all confronting these circumstances together. With that in mind, we are providing strategies that you can utilize to stay connected with clients, keep your valued team, and come out the end of this transitional period ready to grow and succeed.
How We Can Help
Business Success Consulting Group is here to help businesses through every circumstance. We have already adapted our operations to match the current needs of our clients, delivering virtually without any interruption in service.
Our enduring mission is to help companies grow and expand through the implementation of organizational systems. This mission is our guide in providing unprecedented free access to our team’s years of experience through articles, newsletters, and free webinars with additional resources. These tools are intended to help your business thrive and succeed in every situation.
Sign up to our newsletter, connect with us on social media, shoot us an email, or keep your eyes on the “articles” section of our website for access to all of these free resources. Below is the first in our article series. Be sure to connect with us and let us know how you are doing during this time of transition.
Apply These Nine Business Strategies
1. Keep up the usual work routine.
Even if many or all of your staff are working from home, you need to ensure your teams are keeping to their normal routines. If you start every day with a huddle, set up a video conferencing system that will allow your team to begin the day with a huddle. If you do a staff meeting every week, get that conferencing software working overtime so that you can do a staff meeting. Even if your company is experiencing a shift, it’s important to continue to do the actions that work to ensure your company culture is preserved and your employees feel secure.
2. Take this opportunity to tackle your “to-do” list.
If you and your employees are mainly working from home or if business has slowed down, then it’s time to tackle any to-dos you have been putting off. Be sure to follow these simple steps for completing your to-dos:
- Set aside time to get the work done.
- Create a goal for what will get completed in that time.
- Tackle your first to-do with the mindset of completing it. This means both finishing the task and deciding if future tasks like it should be delegated.
- If future tasks should be delegated, add the additional step of documenting how you completed this task and deciding to whom it should be delegated in the future.
- And, if you can, get an accountability partner to help ensure you complete the above tasks.
3.Set a good example for your employees.
When working from home it can be easy to feel a bit of a slump. Perhaps you wore your pajamas all day, or your bed has become your “home office.” If that’s the case, then it’s time to get out of partial vacation mode and return to work. There are many ways to get out of the “I’m at home on a weekend mindset.” Here are a few:
- Look professional by doing your normal morning routine and dressing in work attire.
- Have video calls with employees and clients.
- Create a home office that really is your office at home (as in, it doesn’t have your “to-dos” from home piled up on the side of the desk).
- Get an accountability partner and send them photos of your home office.
- Ask your employees to share pictures of their home offices on Slack or other networking tools.
- Share your daily schedule with your executives and ask them to do the same.
4. No matter what, continue to promote
In uncertain times many businesses not only close their doors, but they also stop their promotional actions completely, assuming that people do not want to buy right now, but surely the company will stay top of mind when things return to normal.
Ending all marketing and PR actions and completely going dark actually means that you will have to take more time once business resumes to kickstart promotions, remind customers/potential customers about your services, and spend valuable time and money trying to make up any lost income from the slump.
Instead of ending promotional actions, get creative. Here are three creative suggestions for online marketing that most businesses can try:
a. Provide something for free. Restaurants can post recipes for which you only need kitchen staples, while remodelers could post tips for DIY home improvements. There is always something free which you can offer your clients.
b. Share your contributions. If you are donating to a food pantry or ensuring your employees work from home to encourage social distancing, let your clients know. They want to understand that their favorite companies are contributing to ending this outbreak as quickly as possible.
c. Try something new. Set up a networking meeting online, use Facebook videos to connect, or try to get a hashtag trending. There are so many opportunities out there to connect and promote, so talk with your team and all employees and see if there’s an idea they have “always wanted to try.” Have fun with it!
5. Document any changes you have made.
Many businesses are making big changes right now. Some of these changes may benefit your company overall and turn out to be a better way of doing business, while others may need to be reverted after things return to normal. The only way you can know what is definitely working and what is not working at all is to document the changes and keep track of the metrics that those changes affect.
For example, perhaps having employees work from home is a much more viable option than you originally thought, and you can downsize your office buildings or expand another area that needed more space. On the other hand, it could be that a particular video conferencing application does not work well for your team, and a change needs to be made rapidly.
6. Try to utilize personnel who cannot do their jobs right now.
In almost every business, there are one or two jobs that simply cannot be done at home or cannot be done with everyone out of the office. If there is a way to utilize that normally very valuable personnel in another way during this time, be sure to do so. You will want to keep the team that you have searched for and hired intact as much as possible so that work can return full steam ahead after they return to the office.
It’s very possible that you have an overqualified receptionist or a janitor who has been taking classes in social media marketing. Discover the additional skills your team possesses and put them to the test!
7. Keep your own stress level down.
It can be incredibly tempting to live on social media during times of uncertainty. After all, that’s where so many of our friends are and, with travel discouraged at this time, it’s the main place we see them. However, it is also a place where rumors abound and incorrect information is shared as fact.
Instead of turning to social media and getting sucked into the quagmire, try these stress-relieving tips:
- Give a friend a call. When you feel isolated or you are missing social connection, call someone you would otherwise check on through social media or talk to via text.
- Get outside. There are many ways we can still enjoy this beautiful spring season while still practicing social distancing. You can ride a bike down a path, take a hike through the woods, work in your garden, or sit on the back porch with a cup of coffee.
- Read something fun. Whether it’s a silly comic or a novel you’ve had on your “to read” pile forever, try to relax with an enjoyable read.
- Take some time to exercise. There are plenty of apps and YouTube videos that can replace your usual yoga or aerobics class. Keep healthy and get fit from the comfort of your own home!
- Give your partner, child, or even a pet some love. Hugs, petting, and kisses can all relieve tension.
- Get creative! You don’t have to be an artist to create something. You can do a craft project with your child, create a new business strategy, film a funny home video, or take photos with your phone.
Share these tips with your employees as well!
8. Find out what solutions others have come up with.
Many people are running into the issues you are encountering. Because of this, there are solutions out there for you. Here are just a few apps and solutions that some of our clients have discovered:
- Use work from home communication and connectivity apps like Zoom, Slack, GotoMeeting, Google Drive, Google Duo, and more. Allow employees to create social channels through these apps as well as professional channels. For example, Slack could have a “water cooler” channel for employees taking a break at the virtual “water cooler.”
- Create a daily “huddle” video call so that your employees feel connected to the group.
- Set meeting agendas and ensure usual meeting protocols are in place, even if they are virtual meetings.
- Encourage accountability partnerships within the company and find an accountability partner for yourself.
- Utilize online apps and platforms for virtual conferences and webinars to stay connected with customers.
- Create Facebook or Instagram videos to keep in touch with customers.
- Set up a newsletter if you haven’t already and reach out to customers in that way.
- Get in touch with your mentor or business coach if you need help.
There are many issues that businesses encounter. Luckily, we are all in this together and there are many resources available to help you.
9. Reach out to us.
The team at Business Success Consulting Group is here to help you. We care about the success of your business and we want every business to remain stable and growing throughout this time and into the future. If you need consultation services or you simply aren’t sure about appropriate next steps, get in touch.
We provide a free initial consultation, and we are available for a virtual meeting anytime. Feel free to contact us for help.
Additional Resources:
We are providing a list of additional articles we have written on the topics above. We hope you find them useful!
On Leadership:
On To-Dos:
On Meetings:
On Marketing:
On Tech Apps and Gadgets:
https://www.bizsuccesscg.com/ten-tech-gadgets-apps/
On Stress Relief:
