How to Build Customer Relationships during the Pandemic

Since the beginning of the pandemic many customer-facing businesses have struggled to maintain the relationships they share with their customers.

Shifting from an almost exclusively in-person basis of interaction to solely online has proven to be a huge challenge for businesses across industries; hospitality venues, health and fitness centres, even recruitment agencies like ourselves, who, pre-COVID, would register most candidates through walk-ins.

If you haven’t already built up an online presence for your business, we have some tips on how you can build customer relations:

1?. Communicate how your business is responding to the pandemic

Customers need to know if your business is still open and want to see how you have made adjustments to accommodate stricter health and safety standards.

Since they can no longer visit your business to find this information out, it’s crucial you utilise social media, newsletters, websites and email lists to inform customers of these changes.

2?. Make it easier for customers to use your services online

If possible, push your products online. Hospitality industries may use an app service for customers to pre-order goods, fitness industries could offer online work-out videos, recruiters like ourselves can shift the registration process completely online.

This assures customers that they can still engage with your business despite the limits placed on in-person interaction.

3?. Maintain or begin a live chat service

Live chats give your business a more human touch when customers visit it online.

Customers value immediate support, especially when it’s not automated. If you can delegate someone to provide this support, it will undoubtedly make the customer’s experience of your business shine.

4?. Create training tutorials or videos based on your speciality or niche

By creating relevant and helpful videos based on your business, you can impress customers by proving your expertise in your field.

For example, hospitality industries could create a “how-to-make” video based on their best-selling product. A “meet-the-team” style video also works within most industries to make businesses more personable.

It’s also a great way to take customers’ minds off of any current negative events.

5?. Host live events based on your area of expertise

For example, your business could host webinars, concerts, or present “how-to” videos for your customers.

This encourages your audience to engage with you and works to indirectly promote your business product.

6?. Keep clean and sanitised

Ensure your customers are aware of how you are adapting to new COVID safety measures.

What has changed? How many people can enter your business premises at one time? What are the benefits of an online-focussed customer experience?

Keep your COVID safety measures up to date and continue to update your customers on all of your platforms – social media, newsletters, emailing, websites.