As we advanced in the previous article, the pandemic has brought great changes that could last over time, so SMEs must take them into account to achieve growth in the coming years. In addition, according to data collected in the Salesforce Small and Medium Business Trends Report, 77% of respondents consider this crisis to be a trigger for business improvements.
The main trend detected in the report has been the communicative change in a context in which communication is essential to explain the efforts that companies are making to adapt to and counteract the pandemic. This communicative turn in SMEs also includes changes in interactions with customers during COVID-19, in order to take care of existing and potential customers.
Within this main trend, the report revealed 4 key aspects, which we briefly describe below:
1. More attention in communication with customers
According to the Salesforce report, 55% of SMEs say they are more careful in their communications with customers, particularly on issues such as transparency in the company’s actions during the pandemic.
The new situation means that companies not only have to take action in this regard, but it is essential that they make it known to their customers, especially in relation to public health issues.
Therefore, it is not strange to see that companies implement and advertise in the media measures such as contactless parcel delivery, periodic cleaning policies in stores and supermarkets, or even the labeling of spaces as “COVID-19 free” .
Take a look at the communication strategies for SMEs during COVID-19 that some companies have developed, such as those described in this article from biz2credit (in English) or this other five days, focused on small businesses and start-ups.
2. Opening of new contact channels for customers
According to the report, 47% of SMEs have increased the ways in which customers can contact them. These are two of the most common:
First, social networks, which have enormous potential and are particularly useful for issues such as the following:
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Stay close to existing customers.
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Capture potential customers.
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Offer assistance and demonstrate excellence in service.
As we explained in this previous article, embarking on social media marketing is an excellent idea, but it is important to have a well-defined strategy to get good results. In this sense, you may be interested in Salesforce Social Studio, a tool integrated into your CRM that will provide you with this and other sections related to this type of marketing.
Secondly, chat robots (or chatbots), which provide the following features and are increasingly popular:
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Improve the customer experience with immediate and natural responses.
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Automate all kinds of processes.
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Offer personalized customer service.
As we also presented earlier in this specific post, Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools provide numerous advantages and present a very high profitability. Take a look at Salesforce’s AI module, Einstein AI.
3. More flexibility with customers
Another highlight in the report is that 44% of SMEs offer more flexibility to customers and, for this, they use practices such as the following:
This type of practice is highly valued by clients in a context in which the crisis is complicating life for most companies. Proof of this is that, according to a IDC study (in English), 39% of SMEs have felt neglected by their suppliers. By contrast, relaxation measures like these make life easier for your customers while focusing on the customer care aspect, described below.
4. Development of long-lasting relationships with clients
The Salesforce report highlights that 34% of SMEs prioritize developing relationships with customers rather than focusing on the development of one-off transactions. This seems like a key trend and easy to analyze:
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Developing a relationship is the easiest way to get satisfied customers back, or even talk about yourself to other potential customers.
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This practice synthesizes the rest of the aspects analyzed in the previous sections.
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Lasting relationships are the best way to overcome the crisis and continue to grow.
One of the main aids available to SMEs in this field are customer relationship management platforms, such as Salesforce CRM, as they offer multiple advantages:
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Centralized information management, which implies a more agile and accurate service.
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Automatic capture of customer and supplier data by connecting email with the CRM platform.
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Automation of tedious tasks to dose your resources.
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Valuable support for the Sales and Marketing teams, thanks to the automation of reports and customer monitoring, facilitating their satisfaction.
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Generation and maturation of potential clients.
conclusion
In this review, we have reviewed the four most prominent components of SMB communication changes during COVID-19, all of which provide useful data on how companies are realigning their communication efforts to overcome the crisis.
Download the Salesforce Small and Medium Business Trends Report for free to expand data and discover the rest of the main changes and trends detected in this study that uniquely analyzes the before and after of the pandemic in SMEs.
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