Due to the coronavirus, many people are working from home.  Meeting in person is rare and is often limited to grocery store visits and other necessities where everyone stays six feet apart from each other.  Even in this time of social distancing, your company still has a customer base.  How can you maintain good customer service while also following local guidelines to keep people safe?  Here are five ways to stay in touch with your customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Utilize social media

Every company should have some sort of social media presence, and this has never been truer than during the coronavirus.  Social media is an easy way to keep people updated about any changes happening in your company due to the pandemic as well as interact directly with your customer base.  It also allows you to be a bit less formal, especially on a platform like Twitter.  Even something as simple as sharing appreciation for essential workers can catch customers’ attention as they scroll through their feeds.

2. Continue regular email updates

Most businesses already have an email list that they send newsletters or other information through.  This is a great thing to keep doing during the coronavirus pandemic.  Because your email list is an established customer base, this is a good way to update them on the newest information about your company and the pandemic.

3. Send texts and phone calls

You may think that customer service only involves clients calling your business, but why not turn that around?  If you have a few loyal customers that you interact with often, a quick phone call to make sure things are going well and see if they have any questions about how your company is operating now can be incredibly impactful. See how they are doing through the coronavirus pandemic. You can also consider sending out text messages to your customer base – just like an email list, but with quicker updates.  This may be a way to reach people faster, as a text is more likely to bring up a notification on a person’s phone than an email.

4. Start livestreaming

Thousands of people, from teachers to talk show hosts, have taken to using Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube, and other video apps to live stream video.  Why not jump on board?  If you have a few clients you regularly meet with face-to-face, you can set up meetings with them over video chat.  Live Streams are great for demonstrations, question and answer sessions, or even just a quick announcement.  You can even record your live stream to post on social media later so you can reach more people.

5. Create video content

Since so many people are staying home due to the coronavirus, everyone is looking for online entertainment.  Your company can add to this video content.  Videos are great for explaining complex topics or evoking emotion, whether serious or funny.  Try making something that you think will interest your customer base.  Both Macs and PCs come with simple video editing software, and there are tons of free options available to download as well.  You can even spread your content over multiple apps – maybe posting longer, more explanatory videos to YouTube and short, comedic ones to Tik Tok.

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