Last week I had the opportunity to connect with a panel of local business leaders as part of the Walla Walla Valley Chamber of Commerce Virtual Town Hall Series. I was asked to share some best practices for communicating with customers as businesses reopen with modified hours and operations in the midst of COVID-19.

From proactive message around your hours and operations to managing negative reviews or comments on social media, we cover a LOT of ground. There’s goodness in here for any business, ANYWHERE. Enjoy!

Here’s the gist of it, in case you don’t feel like watching half of my hand disappear every time I gesture (because Zoom digital backgrounds are wonky!).

TAKE INVENTORY

You need to have an up to date and comprehensive inventory of where your customers and potential customers go to find info about your business.

Obvious places are your website, Facebook page, other social media handles, and Google. Less obvious places may include your regional organizations or directories. Think of all the places where your business info and hours are listed and make sure that information is consistent across the board. You don’t want your social media to say you’re open while Google says you’re closed!

The worksheet I’ve created has space for you to brainstorm and fill this in – this makes it easier when you make adjustments to ensure that all the places your potential customers can find you are updated.

I know it isn’t sexy, but knowing where you’re talking to your customers is vitally important.

CUSTOMER-FOCUSED LANGUAGE

Create clear language to communicate your current operations that puts your customer’s needs first.

For example, “Masks are required on entry” may be a trigger for many people, so instead, you could say “For the health and safety of all our guests, and to ensure we are able to stay open and advance into the next reopening phase, we require our guests to wear a face covering inside our establishment.”

Bonus points if you can make it VISUAL. Some Walla Walla-area salons have done an awesome job of communicating their industry-specific guidelines through social media graphics and videos. Four Feathered Sparrow recreated their sparrow logo to a sparrow wearing a face mask!

Every brand is different. Every industry is different. Be mindful that this is an opportunity to communicate with your unique tone and voice, not just copy-paste the CDC Guidelines or a paragraph from Safe Start Washington.

SPREAD THE WORD

Tell everyone (repeatedly) about your current hours and operation requirements. Here are a few best practices:

Share your current operating hours every time you post on Instagram or Facebook. When somebody is scrolling through their social media feed and notice your amazing new product, they should also be able to easily know when they can take advantage of the offer.  You have to assume that this is the first post your follower has seen from you – hook their attention, yes. But also, give them a clear way to engage.

Maple Counter Cafe is another great example of a business doing their best in these times. They’ve completely reimagined their website with a popup overlay of current dine-in operations, including mask use, capacity, reservations, and the ability to order for take out or delivery.

Physical location matters, too. Bergevin Lane has a sign on the entrance to their new wine tasting room that just says “Funny You Should Mask.” It’s not super clear that masks are required, but it catches the eye. It has some irreverence just like they do; and it’s a friendly reminder to mask up before the guest enters.

I realize I have spent a lot of time talking about digital marketing and haven’t once mentioned email… Yet. But here’s the most important thing you can do right now.

BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST. 

Your posts on social media will have an organic reach between 1-3% of your followers. For every 100 followers you have, just a handful will see your awesome special show up in their feed.

Compare that with email marketing, which has average open rates of 20-25%. If you have 100 subscribers, 20-25 of them will see that same awesome special if you send it to them via email.

The bottom line is, you don’t own your social media following and you don’t have much control over its reach. I strongly encourage all of you, TODAY, to make email list growth a priority. 

1. Ask your social media followers to signup for your email list so that they never miss an update or special.

2. Make email capture a priority at your physical location – you can do this with an iPad kiosk, a piece of paper on a clipboard, or a fishbowl! 

3. Get email subscribers on your website. You probably already are, but double check, and make sure those emails are going to a list you can actually access!

Email marketing does NOT have to be complicated, and you will reach WAY more of your customers with email than you can with social media, I PROMISE you. 

Create an email that communicates your current specials or operations – opportunities to visit you, online sales you may be running, whatever. Then simply duplicate it next week or the week after, and swap in your current awesome seasonal menu item or availability for appointments or whatever! 

You can literally do all of this for free, if you haven’t been doing email marketing before. MailChimp is free email marketing software for any list under  2000 subscribers, which is probably a lot of us who are just starting out.

Responding In Person

The best way to avoid issues with customers during these frustrating times is to be super straightforward and proactive in communicating your current guidelines so that people who don’t want to mask up or whatever else, don’t even bother coming in to your location.

But even so, people don’t read, or people window shop. SO, be prepared with your response to the common jerk-triggers in advance. Practice it in the mirror, or role play it with your team or your spouse. This way you have a go-to script you can easily deliver without losing your cool. 

Responding Online

The same goes for responding to negative comments or reviews on social media posts. Be prepared with an easy-to-plug-in response to negativity from mask-shunners, large parties, and other violators who feel it is necessary to share their sadness all over the internet. 

Every business, industry, and brand is different. Be you. Here are some general guidelines to follow when responding online:

1. Don’t just ignore it. Recent research suggests that 94% of us expect a response to negative reviews or social media commentary, roughly within a 24 hour period.

2. When you do respond, apologize and thank them for their feedback.

3. Respond appropriately.

4. Address any limitations due to COVID-19 and reiterate any changes to business policies.

5. Invite the conversation offline.

6. Keep it short and sweet.

SUMMIN’ IT UP

Whew, that was a lot to cover. I hope you won’t get so overwhelmed that you choose not to use any of these ideas. Start by building your email list. Remember that all marketing is H2H (Human to Human) and put your customer in the center of your messaging. The rest will fall into place, I promise!

What are you finding most helpful in this presentation? Let me know in the comments below!