April 14, 2020

In a previous post, we’ve established that your clients need to maintain communication with their customers in times of crisis and disruption. In troubled times, it becomes more important than ever to preserve or even improve the customer experience. Here are some principles to keep in mind for you, and as advice to your clients as how to craft such communication and even perhaps temporarily modify some of their business practices.

Be clear and candid
Address questions from your audience clearly and honestly. Nothing about a crisis is ideal, for anyone. But sincerity and honesty — even when delivering bad news — will build trust between you and your customers.

Be available
Whether you’re communicating with regulars or reaching out to new customers in a digital campaign, keep your contact information prominent in your messaging. A panicked customer may be looking to cancel an order or service subscription — give them an opportunity to reach out to you directly and give you a chance to discover a better solution.

Relax your deadlines
Everyone’s priorty at this moment is keeping family and loved ones safe. The generosity of extending payment deadlines or even the end of a promotion will be long remembered by those driven to distraction by current events.

Offer discounts and credits
The largest and most public brands are offering deferred payments and significant discounts on their products and services. Follow this trend as closely as you can afford to.

Along with demonstrating a sentiment of “we’re all in this together,” this can prove beneficial to your bottom line. A deferred payment is always better than writing off a loss. A lowered profit margin on a single sale is a fine tradeoff for gaining a new long-term customer.

Pause instead of canceling
Most businesses are slowing down, if not struggling for their very survival. When even a deferred payment feels impossible to schedule, provide that customer an option to pause their service subscription for awhile, instead of canceling it forever. Maintaining a positive relationship with that customer or client is always less expensive in the long run than acquiring a new one.

In short, generosity and flexibility are the key values that should guide your messaging during times of disruption to business world and society overall. Going silent is not an option when you are able to reach out to existing or potential customers with a sincere message of goodwill and understanding in turbulent times.
The positive connections you will create or enhance with this communication will pay off in the long run.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to Mosaic Media for more perspectives around advising your clients on their messaging.