The restrictions and protocols to prevent the spread of COVID have had and will continue to have a long-term economic impact. Unfortunately, retail, hospitality, travel and tourism will be most heavily impacted. On the other hand, some technology companies are the beneficiaries of the changes to the buying behaviour of consumers and businesses.

While buyers are sympathetic to the restrictions imposed upon your business or the demands from unexpected growth, most will not tolerate poor service for more than a brief period. This may feel unfair and harsh when you are struggling to retain enough staff, many of whom are juggling their children’s online learning or are self-isolating and, therefore, absent from the office or storefront. If you are one of the fortunate businesses that have seen a dramatic uptick in demand for your products (bikes, trailer hitches, sporting goods and a variety of technology offerings), you may expect consumers to be patient as you respond to a changing supply chain and growth. This patience will be short-lived.

The sad reality of 2021 is that there will be fewer businesses across North America. However, this increased supply will not engender greater tolerance for poor service. Individual and commercial buyers will understand and accept longer wait times for their hybrid vehicle, the outboard motor, the landscaping service and other high demand products and services. They will not stick with you if the service is poor.

Your front-line staff, whether operating live, through chat or on the phone, need to offer good, ideally great, service, now more than ever. Your customer loyalty group must be easily accessible and empowered to offer compensation, reduced fees for services, and new and appealing offerings.

If service levels are not where you want them to be, if you experience a cyber-security breach, if Twitter is on fire with poor comments about your firm, as president, CEO or division head, you need to respond publicly, quickly and visibly. Do not burden front-line staff and middle management with the responsibility to respond and fix the issues. Take a leadership position.

Get out in front of your staff, your customers and your shareholders and tell them a compelling story of why consumers or commercial customers should continue to buy from you, now and in the months and years ahead. It may not be easy, but it is remarkably simple.

© 2020 Lorraine A. Moore. All rights reserved. Permission granted to excerpt or reprint with attribution.

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