A B2B Guide – How to respond to COVID-19

I think we can all agree, it’s been a strange couple of weeks for us all. Circumstances are changing from one day to the next and businesses are unsure about the best steps to take moving forwards.

We’ve put together a little bit of information we think, as a team, is important for a lot of businesses at the moment.

Communicate with employees

Your employees are at the centre of your operation. Because of this, companies that respond to the current crisis with transparency and compassion will be rewarded by their staff.

Setting and publishing clear policies related to COVID-19, providing sanitation products and responding to any questions/concerns as best possible will work towards providing a supportive and secure working environment for your team.

Ensuring regular and clear communication with those working remotely, particularly if this has not previously been part of the role, is imperative to maintaining business as best possible. Creating uncertainty or damaging the confidence they have built could reflect negatively in their contribution and in turn the business.

With the vast majority of employees actively using social media, a popular way to relay reliable information is to share a regular fact or fiction statements, in turn, avoiding any misinformation being shared between team members.

Develop a contingency plan

Creating a plan to deal with disruptions to your day-to day-operation will put your employees at ease and ensure a smoother transition, should circumstances change and the plan need to be implemented. With updates occurring every day, be sure to continuously review and amend this plan, each time relaying this back to employees, for the quickest turnaround possible.

If you are unsure where to start when developing this, be sure to check out Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s recent blog, who publicly shared the company’s policy and strategy for mitigating the effects of the pandemic.

Brian Armstrong – Planning and response to COVID-2019

Be open to new methods of business 

As a demand generation agency whose solution is really tailored to each client, face-to-face meetings are an imperative part of our sales cycle. Fortunately, modern day technology has enabled businesses to continue to meet using online platforms. What once was in-person meetings can still reliably take place remotely, ensuring the safety of our employees and our prospects.

It is important that all businesses remain innovative and open to changing up their traditional business methods. By doing so, you are allowing both employee and client relationships to stay connected.

Google hangout is offering free access to a number of their enterprise subscription features to ensure the repercussion remains as minor as possible to both businesses and schools. Click here to see the resources available.

Continue to drive new business generation

It is important to remember that while the situation can be overwhelming, every business is sharing the same concerns. As much as you rely on new business generation to maintain a steady revenue, someone else will rely on the supply of your products and/or services.

Of course, it is important to acknowledge your target audience’s concern and rethink areas of your marketing to remain effective. Some examples of this include teleconferencing, telecommunications, remote work tools and social media.

Another effective method of maintaining new business generation is to outsource your sales and marketing function. Professional agencies will be able to provide additional support to any kind of temporary challenges you may be facing, ensuring your business experiences as little change as possible.

To stay on top of regular updates regarding COVID-19, continue to visit – GOV.UK.

To those with friends, family and businesses directly affected by the virus, our thoughts are with you. If you would like to help and show your support to the communities impacted by COVID-19 – Donate here.