Q&A: What steps can you take to build your business during COVID 19 pandemic?

Q: What steps can you take to build your business during COVID 19 pandemic?

ANSWER: There there are 5 tips that come to mind:

TIP #1: Reach our to your customers. Call your customers, even those who were canceling on you. Call them, send them an email newsletter if you're if you have their contact information. Pick a tone that's compassionate, empathetic, and value them. Focus on your customer's needs.

Remember, if you’re afraid. Oh, your customers are afraid. They're experiencing the same type of panic. So address that. Be a leader. We are leaders as entrepreneurs. So this is the time to lead and reach out to them and say, look, if we care about you, okay, here's where we are to help.

Share photos of what your company is doing. If you're donating face masks, funds, volunteering, or group zoom calls, take a screenshot and share it with them. Remind them - we're in this together. We're here with you. We haven't gone away.

TIP #2: Update collecting customer contact information. The pandemic has reminded us as business owners we need a better way to reach your customers. They're showing up at your restaurant and you can't text them or email them. Go on Google right now and look up different ways to start capturing that information every time they make a purchase.

TIP #3: Connect people to your online presence. Does your menu, business card, and packaging drive people to come back to your website or social media? Tell them where to find you and communicate with you.

And give them a REAL reason to give you their email. No one wants another email from someone where they're going to try to take up their time with spam. What is your value to me as a customer?1. Give me a great sale. 2. Tell me about new cool products. 3. Do a fun competition. 4. Give away free things. This is the time to play, to have fun, to give them a reason to reconnect with you that benefits them, not you.

TIP #4 Improve online presence ease of use and clarity. Everyone is looking at your website on their cell phone and is it easy to use? Is the opt-in clear? Are the graphics updated? Does checkout work or does really just kick them off if they refresh?

We build a website and we operate as entrepreneurs behind the scenes and forget what the customer experience is like. Go browse as if you are a consumer. Critique yourself, get real and update it.

Be sure you also check out refresh referral websites like Yelp or Google Reviews. Fight negative ones. Ask customers for positive ones. This is the time to make that kind of an ask.

TIP #5 Revise your current offers. If people bought before, they still want what they were buying before. They just need it in a different capacity. What should change?

Get your products on Amazon if they can't be sold in boutiques. Offer telecommunication services if people don't want to come to the office. This is the time to pivot your offer.

CONCLUSION: If you don’t know what changes to make, take a moment and call a friend who's maybe been a great coach for you or a great cheerleader. I hope this Q&A encourages you with some fresh perspective of how to grow yourself and your business.

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CLICK TO WATCH EXCERPT taken from “USC’s Alumni Entrepreneurship Webinar Q&A: Building Resilience For You And Your Business During COVID-19” (5/12/20). To watch or join the USCAE VISIT: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=535727827333636

SPEAKER INTROS:

Brigette Young (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/brigetteyoung/) is your moderator today. I graduated with a BA from Annenberg in 2002 and have been in marketing in the entertainment industry ever since. I started The Modern Muse Company, a full-service marketing agency, just over four years ago. We specialize in business-to-consumer marketing strategy and work with everyone from Cirque du Soleil to e-commerce startups.

Emily Page (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/emilypage/) has a Bachelors (‘06) and Masters (‘10) in Economics from the University of Southern California and 10 years of experience in developing CPG consumer brand products. She is the CEO and founder of Pearl Resourcing (https://pearlresourcing.net), an international brand and packaging design agency where she has launched multiple 7-figure brands into retail and e-commerce with 2-5x growth in sales. She also offers business growth advice for executives and founders through her consultancy (https://emilyannepage.com) and “Start To Sold YouTube Channel” (https://youtube.com/c/StartToSold/). 

J. Juan Macias (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/jjuanmacias/) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Career Coach with a passion to help individuals and families overcome psychological stressors and multidimensional barriers to reach their personal goals. After a successful career in staffing, recruiting and employment sales at Robert Half International, Juan wanted to increase his personal impact so he changed careers to obtain his Master of Social Work (MSW) at USC then went on to work as a psychotherapist and medical social worker.

 In 2008, Juan combined his social work and experience in the staffing industry to start a career consulting practice, then returned to his alma mater, the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, where he worked for over 10 years delivering comprehensive career and professional development services, counseling and workshops, to graduate students and alumni. He currently runs a career coaching practice.

Scott Moe (https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/scottdavidmoe/) is a creative director and instructional designer who got his Masters in Professional Writing 1998 and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years working with businesses ranging from Angel-funded start-ups to corporate Fortune 50 companies. Currently, much of his work focuses on education-based marketing initiatives and employee development projects.

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MORE ABOUT START TO SOLD Whether it’s packaging, product development, brand design, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, or operations and logistics, you’ll get the in-depth, relevant and actionable advice and resources you need as a business owner, here at the Start to Sold BLOG (https://emilyannepage.com/StartToSold/) and YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/3cDZS39.

MORE ABOUT EMILY PAGE Emily is CEO of Pearl Resourcing and has managed and launched multiple 7-figure brands in Costco, Williams-Sonoma, Kroger, and Amazon. She’s bringing you the expertise, resources, and mentors you need so that you can develop products and make them sell.

• https://pearlresourcing.net
• https://emilyannepage.com

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