2020 has been a tough year for everyone due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Individuals and families have felt the strain, and businesses have also felt the pain of restrictions. But as the world slowly gets back to normal, business improvement is needed to move forward.
Unless your business was around during the Great Depression or the bubonic plague, it’s likely you don’t have a roadmap for coming out the other side of situations like this. So, we’ve put together a list of some key areas to focus your attention as business gets back to normal.
Start the conversationRemote working and flexible working conditions
If you’ve turned your employees into remote working specialists, have you considered what happens next? Many of your people will have become used to working from home with more flexibility. When you reopen, is it possible staff may actually want to keep working from home, at least part time?
If your productivity hasn’t been affected adversely and your staff are happy with their improved flexibility, you’ve got a choice to make. If you want to keep embracing the remote working revolution, it’s time to make sure your collaboration and communication tools are suitable.
Business improvement through automation
The whole workforce has experienced a shakeup in recent months. Many businesses have lost staff, so when it comes time to re-open, do you have enough people on board? Well, there may be another way to look at it. Do you even need as many staff as you had before?
Business process improvement is about finding ways to streamline mundane manual tasks with automation. Reducing human involvement in repetitive tasks is a great way to get operations back to normal without committing to costly wages right off the bat.
Give customers more ways to connect
With social distancing, travel restrictions and self-isolation, people are spending more time online. It makes sense that people want to connect with businesses through digital means. Offering your customers new ways to contact you can also save you money on staffing, especially while revenue is lower. Chatbots and other forms of artificial intelligence could be the best investment you’ll ever make, because it improves accessibility, accuracy of service, and keeps your customers connected.
Take control of business improvement with better customer management
Being able to generate leads, connect with customers and use effective sales workflows is important for every business. But while your business is restarting, customer management becomes even more prevalent. If you’re not already using a customer relationship management (CRM) system, now might be the time. You’ll be able to automate marketing tasks and also reach out to let customers know you’re back open. A CRM does a whole lot more than marketing, so when you need to kickstart your sales again it’s the perfect solution.
Embrace a new digital marketing strategy
Finally, marketing is crucial to a smooth restart post-Covid. With many companies halting their marketing efforts, the chance is there to seize a rare opportunity. Businesses who put the effort into revamping and implementing a solid digital marketing plan are likely to reap the benefits.
You may choose to look into one, some, or all of these tips for a successful business restart. If you need help or advice in these trying times, don’t hesitate to reach out. Contact Human Pixel today and find out how we can help you get back up and running after a period of frustrating downtime.
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