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It is currently a challenging time for many businesses – and even more difficult when we are all uncertain as to how long the Coronavirus pandemic will affect us, our families and our businesses.

It is in difficult times like these when we all need to work together in order to come out of the situation stronger.

Help is here at Horizon Works.

We’d like to provide some useful tips on what you can do to limit the damage to your business and put your organisation in a good position for the future:

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Continue to connect with customers, stakeholders and prospects.

Now more than ever you need to communicate with your customers, prospects, suppliers and stakeholders in order to maintain strong relationships.

Listening to customers’ and prospects’ needs is equally as important as promoting your products and services – and a deeper dialogue may help you to re-shape what you offer around what they really need.

Ensuring that lines of communication are open with suppliers and stakeholders will help you to maintain relationships – simple actions, such as informing them of who they need to contact if any of your staff are absent, can make a big difference.

You may want to consider:

• Support with regular e-newsletters and informative e-shots
• Support with messages/announcements on social media platforms
• Holding regular virtual meetings and conference calls
• Help with the creation of new website content

Engage with staff and strengthen morale.

With many staff now working from home, strong internal communications are vital – and not just from an operational point of view.

Clear, regular internal communication is an important part of building and maintaining morale, and promoting wellbeing, especially given the challenging conditions now facing many businesses. Staff should feel connected, up-to-date and informed.

You may want to consider:

• Embracing and integrating digital communications technology such as Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp
• Implementing internal company e-newsletters
• Enhancing intranet communications
• Support with the production of PDF guides
• Team activities – such as desk exercises, virtual lunches and quizzes

Make your messaging consistent and make it count.

Your messages and content may need to be adapted in line with the current business climate.

Certain products and services may not now be relevant or will need to be re-positioned.

Think about what your customers and prospects need. What will be useful to them? What are they likely to respond to?

Tone of voice also needs to be carefully considered – are you hitting the right note, given the way staff, customers, prospects and the wider business community may be feeling?

You may want to consider:

• Support with social media messaging
• Social media training for staff
• Support with adapting and editing website content
• A review and re-working of your sales campaigns
• Help with shaping public relations activity

Re-position your products and services and make the most of your opportunities.

What your customers may need now might differ greatly to what they needed earlier this year.

Some of your products and services may not be in such high demand – others may be more popular than ever.

You may have had to adapt to new manufacturing processes or ways of working.

You may not be able to rely upon long-standing customers and markets, and therefore need to look at new opportunities elsewhere.

You may need a new marketing strategy which can re-position your business and its products and services for a changing landscape, and can help your company steer a new course.

You may want to consider:

• An audit and assessment of your current marketing activities
• Support in creating a new marketing strategy or revising your current strategy
• Support in adapting and re-energising your marketing plan

Energise your digital presence to generate more business.

As your sales teams may not be able to meet with customers and prospects face to face, you will need to ensure that your website really works for you – and can be easily found by your target audience.

This could mean enhancing your website with new content, images or graphics, making it more user-friendly, adding downloadable content and helping it to rise up the Google rankings to drive traffic, increase inbound enquiries and generate new leads.

Your website should help you to build credibility for your business and could even become a useful knowledge hub for your customers.

You may want to consider:

• A website and SEO audit
• Support in generating new content, such as case studies and blogs
• Enhancements to design and navigation
• SEO support – such as implementation of relevant keywords
• Help with creating downloadable content, such as PDF brochures and data sheets

Engage effectively on multiple platforms and build your audience.

Social media platforms such as LinkedIn are now seeing surges in demand and with good reason – in the absence of face to face networking and sales meetings, they represent a great way of connecting with customers, prospects and partners.

Crucially, effective social media is a means of staying visible and disseminating your messages.

But your company and staff need to stay on-brand and be consistent in how they are communicating.

You may need to re-consider your company’s tone of voice on social media, or it might be important to re-shape social media content around the products, services and expertise your customers and prospects need at the moment.

You may want to consider:

• A social media audit
• Support with social media content and planning
• Graphics and video content to enhance your content
• Training – for instance on using LinkedIn

Keep your business in the spotlight.

It’s vitally important to remain visible to the world.

Customers and prospects need to have confidence that you are operational and available to help them.

And even in the current climate, there can still be positive news to share about your business.

Of course, getting the tone right is key – as is ensuring the right people see your news.

Regional, national and trade press are all still active and are still looking for interesting content for their readers, and if your business is dealing with difficult circumstances, having a good public relations strategy in place is essential.

You may want to consider:

• Support with press releases and media statements
• Guidance on dealing with the media
• Support in shaping a new PR strategy for now and the future
• Advice on tone of voice and content

Support for business development teams is essential to boost their engagement with prospects.

If your business development and sales teams are struggling to adapt to the current business landscape, they may need some additional support – and tools – to help them.

Much of their business will now be conducted over email or through platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and LinkedIn – and there are numerous ways in which their communications with prospects and customers can be enhanced.

You may want to consider:

• Support with Powerpoint presentation design and content
• Creation of infographics, data sheets and emailable brochures/flyers
• E-marketing support
• Creation of content templates for sales campaigns
• Help is Here at Horizonworks – access our support for business development teams including well designed materials, find out more here.

Build your network and share your knowledge.

Webinars, online presentations and digital networking events are becoming more popular as the business world adapts to working from home.

It opens up opportunities to share your knowledge and expertise on a global scale, and engage with new audiences using platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Facebook and YouTube.

Think about how a product could be demonstrated online, or how technical data may be displayed for maximum impact in an online event environment.

You may want to consider:

• Support with Powerpoint presentation design and content
• Creation of infographics and videos
• Support with presentation scripts or webinar structures
• Help with promoting webinars, presentations and online events through social media, PR and e-marketing

Strengthen your profile in target sectors.

Is your business a member of an industry network or trade body? Are you getting the most out of your membership? Or do you need support in evaluating which organisations to join and how to get the best out of them?

Connecting with potential prospects and partners – and getting access to industry advice and expertise – through being an active network member can have huge advantages for your business, especially in these challenging times.

You may want to consider:

• Support with your communications with network members
• Help with choosing and using networks
• Advice on creating and shaping offers to members
• Support in presenting to members

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For more information, click here.

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