In times of uncertainty, it’s normal to feel some anxiety. Right now, with the coronavirus crisis and the economic impact on the market, it can be hard to keep your eye on the big picture. Instead of worrying, I’ve started identifying variables I can control and developing a plan of action.
Here are three areas on which we’re focusing right now:
Communication
The first thing we did was check in with our MVCs (most valuable clients). After a few conversations, we had a much better pulse on what our clients were thinking and feeling along with the challenges they were facing.
This important information enabled us to pivot our strategy and existing campaigns. We developed a communications plan for each client based on the needs of their target audiences. For some, we simply read through the automated campaigns and pre-scheduled social media posts, ensuring they struck the right tone – taking care not to post anything suddenly deemed inappropriate. (For example, we decided to delete our unlucky Friday the 13th posts.)
Then, we developed campaigns for each of our clients who needed to dive deeper. We created letters to the industry, letters to clients, landing pages, content strategies, social media content, and emails. Communication is king right now. The companies doing it right are going to build a lot of brand loyalty during these difficult times.
Scenario Planning
We are thinking through all the different ways the virus and the economy can impact our business and are developing a plan for handling each of them.
Here’s how you can put this to work for you:
- Identify the variables that drive your business. Include customers, people, processes, and technology in your assessment. What can you do now to set yourself up for success later? Make sure you have the right people in place. See if there is any automation you can implement to scale. Develop a plan for remote workers or flexible vendors.
- Identify your critical uncertainties. Pick two and develop a range of likely scenarios. Discuss the implementation of those scenarios and develop your mission and goals with those scenarios in mind.
Not only will scenario planning give you and your team peace of mind, but you will stand out in the mind of your clients when you have a plan.
Anticipate Recovery
Finally, those that thrive coming out of these difficult times will likely have spent some time thinking about the innovations that will drive the world during and after recovery and laying the groundwork to set themselves up for success. Likely, that includes remote work, automation, and flexibility.
While you are hanging out at home, spend some time on:
- Building out a policy for remote workers. During the recovery, there are going to be a lot of talented people looking for jobs. The ability to utilize a remote workforce will increase the size of the talent pool you can consider for your new hires. Sutula Marketing has corporate headquarters in Boulder, CO, but we have key members of our team in St. Petersburg, FL and Austin, TX, because we just happened to find awesome people there.
- Developing a marketing strategy and building in some automation. Now is the time to proactively differentiate yourself so that you are poised to grab market share as soon as it starts increasing in size again.
- Think about your success story. Play out your unique scenario for a couple of months. What metrics would make you proud? An increase in remote transactions? No downtime? 100% of your staff able to work remote? Figure out what you need to put in place today to make it easy to tell your story later.
- Focus on service. There are a lot of uncertainties in the world and uncertainty makes most people anxious. Be there for your customers and clients. Listen to them, brainstorm with them, help them identify and solve their problems. They will remember you when the tide starts to rise all boats again.
Now is the time to think about where you want to be and how you can get there. These are tough times, but they will pass. We are here to help if you need it. We put together a resource page. If you want help with your communication plan or laying the groundwork for marketing, schedule a meeting. Construction industry – we have something special for you.
