With the global Covid-19 pandemic in full swing many businesses have been forced to close their doors in a worldwide attempt to flatten the curve. Even though certain restrictions are being lifted, our lives will never be the same!
The Center of Disease Control (CDC) estimated that it could take anything between 12 and 18 months for a usable Vaccine to be developed. Even though a vaccine is currently being tested in the United Kingdom, it will still take time to perfect, test and mass produce.
How do you continue to capture your audience in a market that has changed overnight?
Your customers have not abandoned you! Just like the rest of the world, they have just had to hit the pause button and put their lives on hold. BUT TRUST ME, THEY ARE STILL WATCHING! Remember, what you have to say matters and people are still listening.
Once we get out on the other side, people are going to turn to the ones who were PRESENT. The ones who SHOWED UP and kept on providing VALUE.
Businesses now need to redefine the benefits of their products and/or service and promote its helpfulness to the market. How can your product and/or service make your customers’ lives better?
Now is the perfect time to create a ‘cool space’ for your customer to ‘hang out’ online. It is important to adapt your content to suit the current trend.
The consumer is currently VERY focused on their health and safety.
People want to know what is happening behind the scenes before they will consider purchasing a particular product and/or service.
Communicating to your audience the measures you are putting in place to ensure your safety, as well as theirs, is of the utmost importance. This is the only way you are going to gain the consumers’ CONFIDENCE. This does not mean you simply do a once off post touching on the topic BUT rather continuously building and reinforcing your safety strategy, sharing updates and gaining the consumers’ TRUST in you and your brand.
What does the Covid-19 and Post Covid-19 Economy look like?It goes without saying that the transport industry has taken a big knock. From the skies that are now plane free to the buses that are no longer transporting human beings, the impact is being felt.
The shift is coming in where home deliveries are on the rise. Everyone in the transport industry has to start thinking of ways to benefit the customer by delivering services safely to their doorstep. How are you going to make the consumer feel safe about making use of your service and how are you implementing your safety protocol?
Promoting safety constantly on your social media will build brand CONFIDENCE. Focus on how you PRESENT your service and lastly how your service is going to BENEFIT the consumer.
Don’t forget, even as restrictions are lifted and the consumer ventures out to make use of public transport, HYGIENE and SAFETY will always be in the back of their mind.
The MomBoss Market Space App is currently being customized to add reliable delivery services to ensure your safety and where you can track your order in the comfort of your home. Best of all you can use your own driver/rider. This awesome service is inclusive upon registration.
RESTAURANTS / HOME COOKS / TIFFINS / PASTRIES AND CAKES
Certain restrictions have been lifted in regards to the catering industry with restaurants finally being able to open their doors. BUT how do you ensure your customers feel safe when it comes to dining at your premises?
Some people might still be wary to venture out and prefer to order online. Either way your focus must be on building CONFIDENCE in your offering. The same applies to the home based chef.
A good idea to help build the consumers’ CONFIDENCE in your brand is by doing videos in your kitchen demonstrating the policies and procedures you are putting in place to ensure hygiene and safety not only for your staff, but how your food is being prepared. People are nervous to dine out or order in.
Communicating to your audience what appropriate measures you are taking to stay safe will secure future sales and CONFIDENCE in the service you are offering. How does your product come packaged and PRESENTED? How is the delivery handled? How can your service BENEFIT their lives?
Building Social Media content around these points will keep your audience entertained. People are more likely to order from someone they know are taking the correct hygiene and safety precautions.
Another fun way to create content and a fun space to ‘hang out’ online is by doing videos of you or your chefs creating a masterpiece in the kitchen. Share recipes and useful tips and tricks. This will keep your kitchen staff motivated and give them something practical to do.
There are so many resources online that can help you to build useful content providing VALUE to your audiences’ lives from homemade sauces, nutritional advice or industry secrets. The sky is the limit.
Doing throwbacks to past events is the perfect trip down memory lane and keeps people entertained. Start a blog and get your creative juices flowing.
How do you plan to ensure the safety of your patrons while on site? Be clear on your Health and Safety protocol and clearly advertise your policies in store and online. Open kitchen spaces offer the consumer a glimpse behind the scenes and will build their TRUST to make use of your service. Reinventing is the only way to get ahead and stay ahead.
Another good idea is to revamp your Online Menu adjusting to the current situation. Catering for family-size portions is not only more cost-effective but convenient. Families are more likely to order a full meal than individual meals since it is more economical.
Creating dishes that require the consumer to heat up or finish off in the oven are also easier to sell as there is less risk of contamination through the heating process. Get inventive in your offering and sell its VALUE to your audience.
Remember when this is all over people are going to turn to the ones who were there, present and showing up. Even though certain restrictions have been lifted, and until there is a Vaccine, this industry is going to have to rethink and restructure its actual set up.
It is possible to adjust to these changes. Begin by getting inventive, doing research, and presenting it to your market.
The MomBoss Market Space App is packed full of useful applications for this particular industry. You can design your full Online Menu and present it to your audience. The home-based cook/chef finally has a professional platform to present their Menu where you can easily compete at the same level as many of your competitors.
It is time to DREAM BIGGER MomBoss!
SERVICESDOCTORS / PRACTITIONERS / HAIRDRESSERS / BEAUTY THERAPISTS / PERSONAL TRAINERS / FREELANCERS
If Covid-19 has taught us anything it is that it is very possible to work remotely from home. Of course, this takes some getting used to but it is achievable. The amount of time saved sitting in Nairobi traffic alone is a blessing.
Staff can be managed and productive if the correct guidelines and procedures are put in place. There are already a wide range of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and Time Tracking Software resources available for employers to use to track and manage their staff effectively from home.
Many professionals in the Service Industry have been moving to Online services long before Covid-19. The current situation has just fast-tracked this process.
Doctors and Therapists can very easily schedule Online appointments with their patients from the comfort of their home. In hindsight this saves you the cost of paying high rental fees for offices, along with the time saved getting to and from the office, internet costs, service charges, etc. all inflate the cost of your service. Moving to a digital space significantly lowers the cost to the company, thus giving you the opportunity to lower your consultation costs while increasing your turnover. Even if there was not a global pandemic doing the rounds, moving your business digitally is certainly the way to go.
Personalized services like home visits may be on the increase as people might be afraid of the risk involved in visiting a doctor’s room or hospital. It is also far easier to implement strict Health and Safety measures by eliminating the risk of being in close proximity to other people in a waiting room.
As restrictions are lifted it is important to communicate with your market the policies and procedures your practice is putting in place to ensure not only their safety, but yours.
We are living in an age of convenience. Take advantage of the situation. Capture your audience by creating CONFIDENCE in your service. How are you going to PRESENT your service and what is the BENEFIT?
Creating a blog, Facebook group or YouTube channel are great ways to create useful content while providing VALUE to your clients. Make sure you are doing Facebook lives or Zooms. Remember you are aiming to create CONFIDENCE in you and your brand today to secure a sale tomorrow. Clients are buying into YOU just as much as they are buying your service. As long as you are providing VALUE your market will support you.
It is super important that you research the current guidelines required to open up your practice. This is true for all service related industries.
For example limiting one client/patient at a time in the waiting room is a great way to prevent crowding.
Have your next client/patient wait in their car till it is their turn.
Have strict policies in place making masks mandatory.
No shoes upon entering and shoe sanitation racks at the door will go a long way in ensuring hygiene and safety.
These are just a few examples to get you going so hit ‘Dr Google’ and do some more research related to your particular field. This is the fastest way to build your clients CONFIDENCE. Shifting your mindset and adapting your service in line with the current crises will enable you to get back on track faster.
Personal Trainers have shifted to the Online route with interactive Zoom sessions done right in your home. The experience is made more fun if you have a smart TV.
Makeup Artists, Beauty Therapists and Hairdressers should not be disheartened during this time. As discussed in great detail throughout this article, we have given you many different ways to interact and engage with your audience. NOW is the time to get creative MomBosses!
Your salon or studio might still be closed BUT don’t forget your clients are still watching and patiently waiting to pay you a much needed visit.
Focus on building fun content, blogs, doing live videos, answer frequently asked questions and share tips and tricks to survive while in isolation.
The opportunity to take your service to your clients’ home armed with a clear Health and Safety guideline might be the best option to ensure your business stays afloat.
Sharing your Health and Safety procedures for when your salon/studio opens up again will go a long way in building that CONFIDENCE everyone is looking for during these risky times.
SAFETY is on top of everyone’s list. By making informed decisions and doing the proper research on how to safely execute your service, will not only give your client peace of mind but you too. The main aim is to gain the consumers’ TRUST.
I hope you can see the IMPORTANCE of having a STRONG Online presence and why now is NOT the time to be silent.
Online marketing is the future of your business and the economy. Yes the change is uncomfortable BUT as we navigate these unchartered waters, unexpected opportunities arise, that might in fact leave you and your brand in a far stronger position than before.
MomBoss Kenya is on a mission to EMPOWER WOMEN TODAY.
I will be doing regular LIVE videos, YouTube videos, blogs and posts sharing VALUABLE content, tips and tricks with you to keep you current and up-to-date.
Special attention has been given to every detail pertaining to our service to ensure maximum convenience and benefit at an affordable cost for all businesses who enlist.
Some of these benefits include:
For more information on these and MANY MORE benefits pop me an email on lauren@mombossmarketspace.wpcomstaging.com
Stay blessed, be kind and live large!
MomBoss Market Space enables business owners, employed professionals, contractors, and repairers to list their services all under one roof so that you can feel safer and at ease choosing any service from our directory, whilst helping women working in male-dominated trades to stand out
