Learning from Lockdown

Andy Ball, managing director at Balls2 Marketing, talks about what businesses can learn from lockdown.

That old phrase ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’ has really rung true over the last few months; whether it’s the luxury of going to your local for a pint, taking a trip to the cinema, or popping into town for a wander around the shops, life has certainly been transformed by Covid.

It’s the same in business. Whereas I would normally spend a lot of my time travelling up and down the country to visit clients and chat through strategy plans, now we are using platforms like Zoom to catch up. The support we’ve received through suppliers and the organisations we pay membership for has also made us see the value that each of them offer – whether good or bad.

I think that has been a telling sign for many in the industry. I’ve heard lots of reports of people not receiving updates from the key suppliers, and struggling to contact anyone when their main contacts had been furloughed. For many we have spoken to, that has left a really bad taste and only time will tell how that will impact buying decisions further down the line.

During lockdown, our communications strategies varied for our clients, but the core goal was the same: keep their customers informed, give them as much support as we could, and keep them safe.

As the bad news headlines kept rolling, and more teams were furloughed, maintaining morale was an additional factor, so sharing good news stories and ‘working from home’ stories helped our clients stay connected with their customers.

Customer communications are essential for any business, but during a crisis, they are absolutely vital. Unprecedented times these may be, but keeping your customers informed and supported through the bad times builds relationships that thrive in the good.