Helping Businesses Return After Lockdown

So, thinking about 2020 after Coronavirus lockdown – business need to get back to ‘normal’.

But ‘normal’ with be much different from before. It will be
the ‘new normal’.

It’s time to consider what ‘new’ looks like and be prepared
for it.

You may not be able to simply reopen– there are lots of
things that need to be considered and this will take time and care.

I hope the information provided here will help you with your
preparations.

Payments- Alternatives to cash

Questions
to you:

•          How do you collect money?
•          How are you going to move to non-cash handling?
•          Can you take payments in advance?
•          How are you going to communicate this to your
  clients?

Things to
consider:

•          Would setting up card payment options be a good
  idea?
•          There are Apps that can be used on your phones
  or ways for your customers to pay online
•          What messages you need to get out to your customers?
   
•         Should you consider accepting BACS payments or
  direct debits? 

Keeping
in touch

Questions
to you:

•         Have you kept in contact with your customers
  over the past 6 weeks?
•         What is your plan to keep in contact with them?
  Loyalty comes through contact

Things to
consider:

Contact strategies:

•         If you haven’t got one, create a detailed list
  of customers (or a mini CRM system) – you may be able to just create reports
  from Xero or QuickBooks
•          Do you know who your key customers are? Could
  you give them a call?
•         Is it suitable to set up Zoom meetings so that
  you can talk to customers as a group or individually?   
•         Social Media – Should you have a Facebook page?
  If most of your custom comes locally are you part of local Facebook groups too?
•          If you have a website, have you kept that up to
  date with the current situation so that customers know what to expect?

What
needs to change?

Question
to you:

•          How will this affect the return of your team
  (they may be nervous, they may be unsure if it is safe to come in)?
•         How are you going to maintain social distancing?
•         How are you going to maintain cleanliness and
  sanitisation?
•          How are you going to remove your team members’
  fears?
•         Do you need to do anything special to protect your
  more vulnerable team members?

Things to
consider:

•         What is the most efficient way of laying out the
  workspace?
•          create a team movement diagram to see how you
  move around the office space and work out what needs to change and what systems
  can be put in place to make the whole process simpler?

The return
of customers

Questions
to you:

•         How will this affect the return of your
  customers (they may be nervous; they may be unsure if it is safe to visit you)?
•          How are you going to maintain social distancing?
•          How many people can you serve at once?
•          How are you going to maintain cleanliness and
  sanitisation?
•          How are you going to remove your customers’
  fears?
•          Do you need to do anything special to protect
  the more vulnerable customers?
•         Do you need to reduce the number of service
  points or covers in a restaurant?
•          Do things need to be moved around so clients
  don’t cross each other’s paths

Things to
consider:

•         Identify the most efficient way to do this
•         What signage and processes need to be in place?
•          How this will affect hours worked by the team?