Don’t Be a Corona Crisis Jerk: 8 Business Communication Mistakes to Avoid During the Pandemic

Everyone is scrambling right now to figure out our “new normal” (apologies for the overuse of this term) from virtual playdates to grocery runs that seem more like a military operation (Gloves on? Check. Hand Sanitizer ready? Check. Get to those cart wipes as soon as you can!) and with business it’s an even stranger time with so many people being laid off, losing work and losing money in the stock market. 

Tread lightly is an understatement. You never know if the person you’re talking to is in danger of losing their home, their business or even a family member. As we all have probably experienced at some point in the digital era, even the most well intentioned quip can fall flat when it’s in the textual void of non-verbal, non-in-person communication. Motivations can be misconstrued, misinterpreted and maligned. That’s why during this time when our emotions are all at a heightened level, it’s best to be extra careful with business communications. Here’s some minefield messaging to avoid and some alternatives to embrace as we navigate our way through uncharted times.

Don’t Make Light

This might be obvious but it bears mentioning. While it might be fine to throw out a quarantine meme on social media (please do actually, I really can’t get enough “quarantine body” jokes) it’s best not to go there in business communications and with clients. One person’s funny, “just trying to bring a smile with all this stress” joke might really go the wrong way with your recipient. So just don’t. Go on Imgur if there’s a meme you just gotta share and post it there.

Instead: Exude positivity with a kindhearted greeting and salutation that shows empathy and interest. 

Don’t Be Too Quick to Be Too Optimistic

It’s great if you’ve found your groove working from home, reconnected with family, and noticed bird songs while taking a walk instead of your morning commute, but not everyone is feeling a reawakening yet. Some people are wondering if their business can survive, if someone they know who is especially at risk will survive and trying to maintain a household through fragile economic times. Yes, we do have a lot to be grateful for. Yes, this is a great time to reexamine your priorities and recalibrate. But it’s best to leave this off your communication and definitely off your sales pitches or risk appearing tone deaf to the enormity of the crisis. 

Instead: Send well wishes and “be safe” messages that show empathy around an ever changing situation.

Don’t Expect Immediate Answers

Delete “just looping back,” “just following up,” and any other passive aggressive nudges you want to give people that typically might produce the needed reaction you were seeking. In these trying times, this can come off as pushy and insensitive. 

Instead: Acknowledge that this is probably the semi-last thing on your recipient’s mind and give them an easy executable follow-up action plainly laid out. 

Acknowledge Your Non-Essential-ness

Although I was loading up on toilet paper and baked beans this week in preparation for an apocalypse I still was shopping for a bath tray (figuring after three years in my house, it might be time to try out that bathtub) and craft items (Joann Fabrics you’re the real MVP for having “no contact” curbside pickup). We’re in a strange time of thinking about survival but also needing things to fill our day, so it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be reaching out to people or selling non-essentials, you just need to acknowledge you’re extraneous to the crisis and be open about that. That includes ditching language like “life changing” for a bottle of soap or other language that lacks perspective. When in doubt, leave it out.

Instead: Stay connected to your audience and what their lives are like presently. See where you fit into their current lifestyle. Don’t make it sound like what you’re offering is something lifesaving when it’s not.

Don’t Ignore the Issue

I’m making it a point not to respond to any initial message that doesn’t at least acknowledge what’s going on in the world. If you’re sending me a sales pitch, story pitch or other message where you want me to take some sort of action and you don’t at least acknowledge these crazy times, you’re going to appear to me as a time traveler from the past who has no clue what’s going on. Not a good look right now. 

Instead: Don’t spend a whole lot of time getting into the ins and outs of how many rolls of TP you have in your house or what your local government just did in response to things. We’re all on data overload at the moment. A quick preface to your message should suffice. He’s a few you can borrow: “Hope you’re holding up well in these uncertain times.” “Hope you and your family are well during this trying time,” or “I know this isn’t top of mind with everything going on in our lives today, so I appreciate you giving me a moment of your attention.” 

Be Mindful of Time and Place

The weird thing here is that this is a continually developing story and government directives change on a daily basis. It’s important not to freak people out with “shelter in place” claims or saying things like “Hey I know all of your stores are closed” when they might not be in your recipient’s region. You don’t want to distract from your intended message by being the bearer of false information that might cause alarm. Every country is being touched by this in some way but in many different iterations. 

Instead: Stick to generalities so you can get right to your point.

Keep Things Brief

Brevity is close to godliness, but that’s especially true these days. Although we’re stuck inside in many parts of the US with seemingly nothing to do, we’re also hit with the immense stress and strain on our time of having added family at home to care for, meals to cook around the clock and extended family to keep tabs on. It all adds up to us not giving the same amount of time and attention to all those random emails that are coming in. 

Instead: Be mindful of everyone’s time. Edit down as much fluff and extraneous words from your message as possible. The shorter the better; aim for two paragraphs max for an intro message. 

Don’t try to fit your square pitch into the pandemic round hole

Not every issue, story, or product relates in some way to the pandemic... and that’s okay. You may yourself have cringed over someone trying in vain to angle a subject matter to fit into the pandemic topic. Some are more nefarious than others. I just read the dozens of negative comments directed at a vent cleaning company who tried to make the claim that vent cleaning was a good way to keep your house COVID 19-free. There were no facts to support this claim and instead they opened themselves up to a myriad of competitors and critics calling them out for being deceptive. That’s an extreme case but don’t stretch things to make yourself appear more relevant to the current crisis. Best case you look desperate, worst case, opportunistic.  

Instead: Own your message and let it stand on its own merits. 

Ask How Can I Help?

How can I help? Should be the crux of any good sales pitch at any time of the year, but today it’s even more important. I received a great email from a press agency who asked me if I would still like to receive pitches from their clients and if so, in what format. This was a great example of emotional intelligence. They weren’t trying to force their agenda at me; instead, they put me first and asked me specific questions: Would you like to still receive entertainment pitches at this time or do you just want to wait until this all blows over? Is it okay for us to use humor or is it not appropriate to joke right now? Not only did this make me want to work with them more, but it left an impression of what their brand and company was about. It also gave them a halo of confidence rather than desperation. Always a great impression with which to leave people.

These are very weird times. Before we’re business colleagues and clients and customers, we are all fellow humans and we are all in this together. As we practice social distancing, it’s even more important to keep our virtual lines of communication open so we can stay connected and not feel so isolated. Let’s all do our parts to not be jerks during this time. Maybe a little of it’ll stick for the long haul.