How to communicate with clients during the COVID-19 crisis

The worldwide panic over coronavirus is leaving big and small brands wondering what happens next and how best to communicate with clients.

Here are some tips to gain your customers’ trust during these crazy times:

Use your website

Creating a public update on your corporate blog that describes how you are coping and how your brand is helping your customers is always a good idea.
Nancy Seeger shares some valuable tips on how to write your public message effectively:
Don’t pretend everything is normal, address the issue head on.

Don’t just stick to marketing as before.

One of the car companies in Canada changed the TV ads to say, “This is where we usually show them our new models, but instead we want to thank the doctors and nurses for …….

Another example of how to communicate with clients is the new Budweiser commercial that also thanks the doctors and nurses.

Build your local community. Give a shout out to those who are supporting the local community or the industries that support your industry.
Use humor carefully. We don’t want to be dark and depressing, but many have loved ones who are sick or at risk. Walk carefully.
Avoid generalizations or statistics that change often. Marketing communication is sustained over time and needs to be specific and valuable enough, without becoming outdated too soon.
Give hope. People will always remember how you make them feel and giving hope in times of crisis is a great way to create positive energy.
Ultimately, your message should make each of your customers feel that they are not alone.

Retain customers

How to communicate with clients and how to keep them are issues that go hand in hand. B2B SaaS companies should have a policy on what to do to try to counteract cancellations. Some companies have lost some of their entire revenue and must cut costs.

This may be waiving fees for a certain period of time or granting extensions in time to pay. It is better to retain them as customers who you hope will recover soon than to potentially lose your business forever.