The COVID-19 crisis impact on businesses cannot be ignored. Supermarket shelves are depleted of essential items like hand sanitizers, face masks and toilet rolls. Offices are scaling down on operations and urging staffers to work from home. Hospitality operators and small businesses have lost customers significantly since people were advised to practise social distancing.
To maintain financial discipline, small businesses have begun work with outsourcing financial work to professional accounting firms in Singapore. At Ackenting Group, we offer accounting and bookkeeping services to businesses with tailored solutions to meet various requirements and ensure they keep their financial status up.
Keeping in touch with customers remain vital so you can keep your business going with great service. Here are a few tips to help you stay connected and engaged to your customers.
Let Your Customers Know About Your Measures for the COVID-19 Outbreak
Has your business taken proactive steps to help stop the spread of COVID-19? If yes, do your clients know about it?
Social responsibility is an excellent reason for you to reach out and connect with your clients and customers. You can tell them if you have:
- Scaled-down the staff team at the shop.
- Adopted new sanitization and disinfection techniques.
- Restocked or filled your shelves with sanitizers and other equipment.
Send them an email and let your customers know what measures you’ve taken. This assures them that you are taking proactive steps in protecting their health and shows your concern for your employees’ wellbeing as well. Also, keep your customers updated on any changes in the operating hours or if you are closing the store for the day for a deep-cleaning session.
For passers-by, inform them about the steps you’ve taken by preparing a summary on a physical signage and placing it next to your shop. You can do the same on leaflets or print facts about the COVID-19 and place them in the store to show that your business is taking precautions seriously.
Communicate and Serve Clients through Digital Channels
As certain aspects of the business are moving online, high volume of traffic is expected. Your website will need to ensure it can keep up and remain easy-to-navigate for customers to obtain products and services from you. Boost your customer service capabilities so your patrons can reach your easily. Provide the option to chat via instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to assure them that you can offer support for their needs efficiently.
Boost Your Social Media Presence
Remember the signboards you have at the front of your store on how you are responding to COVID-19? You can encourage walk-in customers to share them with their friends and family on social media. It can also be helpful to increase your posting frequency, whether you’re posting things related to the virus, or offering light and positive content to take people’s minds off the panic. This means you are also showing up in their news feeds and your brand remains relevant.
Hold Online Events
Were you planning a product launch, anniversary celebration or some special event only for the plan to fall through due to the outbreak? You could consider proceeding with the plans, albeit on cyberspace.
Although people are on quarantine, they still crave to socialize and interact with others, and most importantly, keep themselves entertained. Give them the chance to do so by using Facebook Live or Instagram Live to live-stream the event. Offer a special “live streaming” discount to the first few customers who join in. This can help to keep them engaged to your brand.
Offer Online Deals
Because your customers are staying home anyway, they are spending more time online than ever before. They are not just looking to get the latest updates on the COVID-19 developments, but online shopping has acquired a whole new meaning. If you already have an e-commerce platform, encourage online shopping and host a sale with attractive discounts. Promote a giveaway to keep things buzzing for your business.
Staying connected to your customers in these creative ways can help you keep the revenue streaming even after the storm clears. In the meantime, you can consider outsourcing accounting services to keep your finances in good shape without spending more to retain a full-time accountant. It is wise to be prudent in current tough times; you can opt for an affordable outsourcing fee and feel assured that the job gets done. Ackenting Group offers SME accounting services, company incorporation services and more to meet any business needs.
If you require any assistance on accounting services, feel free to drop us an email at johnwoo@ag-singapore.com or contact us at +65-66358767. At Ackenting Group, we offer a complimentary 30 minutes online consultation for us to better understand your business requirements.
