I have been asked by clients and industry executives alike about what you should avoid communicating in such uncharted times as we are in now. To help you navigate communication with customers and partners effectively, we prepared the following informative information: Do’s and Don’ts on What to Communicate During a Pandemic.
For general guidance, please consider the following:
Avoid these communication tactics:
- Speaking opportunities – with events on hold for the time being, organizers are focused on pivoting their business and may not be focused on building their programs. Consider building a funnel to implement for follow up when the time is more appropriate.
- Long-term planning – it is all an unknown right now, make notes, write down your ideas and goals for future reference. Until the current situation becomes more evident on how it will impact businesses everywhere, implementing longer-term strategies now could be a moot issue.
- Giving our services away for free! You have to protect your business and use your best judgement. If it’s a company on the front lines, you could donate services/capabilities for a tax write-off. If it’s an existing client that needs help, you could offer discounts, deferred payments and other means to help them get through this difficult time. Everyone understands business is business and considering how you can be a true partner is a win-win-win for today, tomorrow and well into the other side of this pandemic. If it’s out of scope, we can borrow from future month hours; trade out; provide at-cost services; defer invoicing and various other initiatives so we aren’t taxed for our time unnecessarily. The key here will be to communicate the options in a smart way that offers them visibility and transparency in our approach and keeps them part of the conversations.
