This is an unprecedented time and, above everything else, we are thinking of those who have been directly and indirectly affected by COVID-19 and wish anybody impacted a speedy recovery.
We’ve gathered together a few ways you can prepare both your business website and your team for the impact the coronavirus outbreak may have on your day to day operations. These tips are simple for any site owner to implement and will help keep your team and customers informed and engaged throughout this period of uncertainty.
Live Chat
To limit social contact, without cancelling pre-booked appointments or consultations, consider installing live chat functionality on your site. This will allow users to contact you digitally to attend appointments, or get an immediate answer to questions they have about how your business will be operating during the coming weeks and months.
As a starting point we recommend looking at the list of live chat solutions collated on Capterra: https://www.capterra.com/live-chat-software/. To further narrow down your options, based on your company’s needs, there are additional filters you can select for a more specific product.
LiveChat, Zendesk and Olark are popular and well known, and certain providers (such as Zendesk) also offer additional integration with linked products, such as helpdesks, which may also be helpful for enhanced digital working.
GDPR is another important aspect to review as your organisation could be processing EU customer data through the live chat, and the data will be held on the 3rd party’s servers.
Remote Working
If this hasn’t already been requested or enforced we recommend getting your team prepped and ready for remote working.
Laptops and mobile devices are two pieces of equipment you should ensure your team has access to, but don’t forget about credentials to Zoom, Skype, or other digital services that they need to effectively work remotely.
We recommend keeping the working day structured as closely to an office day as possible. Set boundaries for start and end times, lunch breaks, and who staff should contact in the event leave is required.
Team Chats
There will always be a transition period when staff are working from home and we encourage you to communicate openly and honestly with your team around any evolving company policies in response to the spread of COVID-19.
Team chats are a fantastic way for your team to stay connected, even if they’re working in isolation, with services like Slack proving to be invaluable. We recommend a daily stand-up meeting to set goals for the day, discuss availability, and prioritise tasks to ensure smooth workflow and ongoing communication between the team.
Inform Your Clients
We know this is a difficult time for businesses all around the world,but we urge you to keep your clients updated about any changes to their usual service. In addition to conventional communication channels such as e-mail or telephone, we also recommend adding a statement to your website that confirms any pertinent details all customers should know. After all, your website or social media channels are likely to be the first places they look for guidance.
Keep information clear and direct, and ensure customers know the date your statement was last updated, and who they can contact for further information.
Review Contact Details
We advise reviewing your contact details on your site, and on the Google Business Listing service (and any related directory services) if your hours of operation have changed, or if there is any other important information people should be aware of.
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It is an uncertain time for all of us and communication with both your customers and your team will be key to minimise confusion and stress.
At AWESEM we intend to keep supplying our clients with the same level of service as we always have. Our team is able to work remotely and continue working on both new and existing projects. We appreciate that this is a confusing and disruptive time, so if any clients have any queries about how AWESEM are operating during this time, please don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@awesem.co.uk.
