Lessons from the Shutdown: 3 Key Takeaways

Over the last several weeks, I’ve spoken to many of our member businesses about how they’ve been coping with the COVID crisis. All businesses are suffering; this has been a terribly uncertain time with mandatory closures, new regulations, and safety concerns. Government loan and grant programs have added stability but also simultaneously added more uncertainty with rules for forgiveness, use and payback shifting weekly.

At the same time, though, I’ve spoken to several business owners for whom this crisis has been transformative. These owners have innovated and refreshed their business during this difficult time, leading in some cases to increased business and new customers. Three key traits keep popping up in my conversations with these owners, and it’s no coincidence that the businesses who see light at the end of the tunnel share these positive traits.

Flexibility

Before this crisis, many businesses viewed e-commerce was a “nice to have” or a “maybe down the road” feature. With physical buildings closed or employees-only allowed inside, e-commerce suddenly looked not only plausible but absolutely critical. Shifting to give customers the ability to place orders online created, sometimes, the only revenue stream for businesses during the shutdown. 

Similarly, curbside pickup and delivery became offerings for retail stores, not just restaurants. Certainly thousands of restaurants signed up for delivery services for the first time, but local retailers, in particular, began delivering shoes, gifts, groceries, desserts and more. 

Service

Above-and-beyond customer service has always been a hallmark of great businesses. However, during the crisis, business owners who doubled down on their emphasis on service found it to be key in holding onto and even increasing their customer base. Increasing options for interaction, like in the examples above, provided customers new ways to keep up their relationships with their favorite businesses. At the same time, the most successful businesses sought ways to replicate and expand the customer experience while remaining physically apart.

Free shipping lures customers to buy and can be a decisive factor in online purchases. Beyond that, though, business owners pivoted to walk their customers through the store via Zoom and FaceTime, essentially providing a private, one-on-one shopping experience. Some owners took orders by email and phone — “retro”-style — allowing customers to swing by easily and without contact but still getting exactly what they needed. Orders were brought to customers, rather than the customers coming to the store. 

This focus on the customers’ needs and experiences has paid off.

Determination

It seems obvious that the businesses who weathered this crisis most successfully found ways to stay open and in contact with their customers. You can’t do business if you’re not operating! However, I was surprised by the number of business owners who shut down their operations and tried to ride out the shutdown. In the face of this dramatic and unprecedented situation, the owners who remained determined to be there are the ones who found the most success.

The COVID crisis is not over, but we are entering a new stage of it: phased re-openings, new social and sanitation rules, and the “new normal,” whatever that it supposed to mean. Crisis doesn’t have to mean despair, though. And it isn’t too late to shake up your business if you didn’t initially react with flexibility, service and determination. Take stock of where your business is, now that your customers are ready to come back. Face re-opening with a sense of purpose and innovation and a renewed commitment to providing your customers with the absolute best food or bicycles or curtains or bookkeeping or whatever it is that you do best.