COVID-19

How will you react next time a someone asks you to come out and quote?

Heaps of Aussie business owners are unsure what they should be doing right now. Especially Tradies and other service type businesses.

Some are asking if they’re even allowed to be at work.

The simple answer is, you can and must keep going - and adapt to safeguard your business.

Your normal way of doing things might have to change. But there are heaps of techniques you can adopt to keep the business coming in.

Very briefly, here are a few bits of advice that apply to a lot of tradies and service businesses. Some of it makes good business sense under any circumstances. You may find you even want to keep using these techniques after COVID-19 has gone away.

• In many cases you can get a good deal of the information you need, if not all, via video link ups and virtual job tours with Apple Facetime, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger Video Chat, or Skype.
• You can survey potential work sites using Google Map Satellite View, or Nearmap for up to date, high resolution images.
• Get customers to provide you with measurements, photos and any other details you need. You can build in a degree of flexibility around quoting conditional upon your verifying details provided.
• You can still visit many premises so long as you take steps to ensure adequate social distancing and hand hygiene.
• Now is a very good time to put together the elements of a complete quoting system for your business, with quoting checklists, price lists for standard works and qualifying scripts.
• Get customers to double check every detail of the quote to eliminate any need to vary the quote price.
• Make several video link ups with customers to ensure the best level of communication.

If you need more detail on how to implement any of these methods call the Acton Victoria Free Emergency Business Hotline and speak to a business counsellor.

We’ll also be running a free webinar online where we explain some of these techniques in more detail.

If you’re interested, drop us a quick email and paste the following into the body of your message.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE SCHEDULED THE NEXT FREE WEBINAR ON QUOTING DURING COVID-19,

Contact us here

Hang tough!

A surprising number of small business owners have told us they think they should put their marketing on hold due to the COVID-19 disruption.

The reasoning goes, they need to conserve cash to survive the lean spell and marketing is pretty pointless when everything has stopped.

Yes, conserving cash is always a sound strategy. But no marketing? Bad idea!

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve helped heaps of clients carry out emergency cost cutting exercises. We’ve looked at their marketing spends too. But put marketing on hold altogether? No way!

Now, more than ever, you need to be communicating with customers.

• “Yes we’re still open for business”
• “Yes, we’re taking special precautions to ensure safe working conditions”
• "Slightly different arrangements due to COVID-19, but yep we’re going strong”

You need to be putting this stuff on your website, in emails, temporary signage, everywhere! Expectations with the public right now are, that everything has been disrupted. If you don’t let them know otherwise, how will they know?

The world has not stopped turning. The sky is not falling in.

The other huge thing is this: All kinds of customers are looking for stuff they wouldn’t normally want right now. In some cases, the same panic buying mentality supermarkets have seen is surfacing for certain types of trade and service work.

Right now, amongst other things, we’re seeing:

• A lot of bored home stayers looking at home and garden improvement projects, needing quotes.
• Emergency plumbers fielding extra work because of the extra use home plumbing is getting.
• Shop fitters adding retail service barriers and helping restaurants adapt to doing take away work.
• Home office conversion work.
• Crazy amounts of extra cleaning and transportation work.

People we work with on the Action Tradie Program have come up with heaps of ideas to satisfy current demands like these in short brainstorming sessions; sitting down with somebody who knows how to activate their thinking.

Often, it’s a case of revisiting stuff they’ve discarded in the past because there were better things to do at the time.

We find a lot of people think they have to come up with something new and emerging to hit the spot, but that’s often not necessary at all.

If you’re prepared to think a bit outside the box and quick enough on your toes, there are heaps of opportunities to be had.

Special Offers for Healthcare and Frontline Workers anybody? They deserve some extra support from the rest of us right now and it’s not like they’ll be out of work any time soon!

Yes, you’ll probably want to be advertising different stuff.

But that’s not hard.

Just — whatever you do — hold off sacking your AdWords / Facebook Advertising guy. Tell him it’s time to start earning his keep and you want him to help you innovate.

Are you feeling overwhelmed with business pressures right now?

We’re running a free emergency business hotline for anyone who needs support and advice to get their business through this stressful time.

Call it. We’re here to help.

We’ll also be running a free webinar online soon, where we go over pivoting strategies to ensure businesses navigate these uncharted waters successfully.

If you’re interested, send us a quick email to let us know by pasting the following into the body of your message.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE SCHEDULED THE NEXT FREE WEBINAR ON BUSINESS PIVOT STRATEGIES FOR COVID-19

Contact us here

Hang tough!