PRINT SERVICE PROVIDERS and businesses with brick and mortar locations all have a need to communicate to their employees and customers about the safety measures they’ve taken to ensure anyone coming through their doors is safe.
Now more than ever, it’s imperative to communicate a true sense of compassion, responsiveness, and strong leadership with customers, investors, suppliers, business partners, and employees for the survival and prosperity of your organization
Here are some tips on what your message should achieve:
- First, listen to them; people need to be heard right now.
- Convey that you understand their fears; show you’re empathetic to their perspective.
- Respond to any inquiries from them within 24 hours, if not sooner.
- Spell out the specific health and safety protocols your company has taken to keep your facility and your people safe and free from a risky environment.
- Provide daily, honest, and transparent updates.
Don’t assume your employees and customers are confident you’ve taken the precautionary measures to keep them safe. If your business is one that requires a lot of employee or customer “touch points,” you’re in a very tenuous position to allay any actual or perceived fears. Go beyond what you feel might be necessary to communicate the efforts you’ve taken. There is no such thing as “too much information” in this instance.
If you don’t already have a digital communications platform set up (e.g. Zoom, Gotomeeting, Skype, etc.), download, install, and implement ASAP. This is the new way employers communicate with employees and customers. Then schedule weekly online meetings to provide health and safety updates as well as a time for Q&A’s from your audiences.
Finally, equip your employees with proper, easy-to-convey messaging so they can communicate your company-wide “script” to your customers. That will mitigate instances where one employee is saying one thing and another is saying something completely different. You want to ensure everyone is using the same language and message points.
If you don’t have the high-level skill to craft the message, hire someone who does. Conveying social responsibility, reassurance, and genuine concern for your employees’ and customers’ health and welfare is critical to the success of your company’s ability to come through this crisis. Don’t underestimate your audience’s ability to sense a disingenuous message. Properly crafted communications, particularly in these tumultuous times, is paramount and worth the time and energy.
Taking these few simple steps will help your employees and customers feel safe and reassured. Alleviating some of their stress will help build trust in your company and re-establish brand loyalty.