In these troubling times, there are few silver linings to be found, let alone if you’re running a business. However, you may find you currently have a lot of time on your hands, wondering how your business will survive. Or you may be thinking, with all this time on your hands, what you can do to come out of this more robust and more resilient. This way of thinking even has its new term – SurThrival.
This is where there may be an opportunity rarely afforded in everyday business life. Instead of working in your business, you have a unique opportunity to work on your business. There is some space for you to reflect on what is essential about your company and to consider how, or even whether, this is reflected in your website.
The challenges
Given the current economic conditions, many businesses must rethink their entire business models. Many are trying to determine how they can make their businesses work, considering large numbers of staff being furloughed, social distancing measures, and physical premises not being open. These are tremendous obstacles, and I’m not suggesting for one minute that having a more significant online presence or functionality will magically solve these issues, though it may, in part, assist with your solutions to your ongoing business survival.
The opportunity
A recent study (of admittedly US consumers) reported ‘1 in 3 consumers indicate news of Coronavirus has already impacted their shopping behaviour. The impact is felt in several ways, including… purchasing products they wouldn’t otherwise have purchased, shopping online when they usually shop in-store, and shopping in new stores.’ In addition, of those ‘...who claim their shopping behaviour was impacted, 1 in 4 consumers with confirmed in-store purchases between March 1 and March 9 indicated they were replacing in-store shopping trips with online.’
This isn’t limited to just B2C markets. In a recent McKinsey study by McKinsey of UK, B2B decision-makers have found a ‘Preference for digital now ~2X more than traditional sales interactions; self-serve, digital ordering methods now preferred, e.g., mobile app ordering up ~50 per cent.’ The ‘new normal may become the sustained way of doing business well after the lockdown. In the same study. ‘ 97 per cent of B2B companies have shifted their GoToMarket model during COVID-19; 58 per cent believe the new model is just as effective or more so than before‘, further ‘22 per cent are “very likely” to sustain these shifts 12+ months after COVID-19, and another 52 per cent are “somewhat likely” to do so.’
Since more and more people are online and forming their decisions through online research and evaluations, it seems reasonable to assume that more and more (of the existing sales) opportunities will be found online. This being the case, taking a long, hard look at how you appear online and what you can do to improve and maximize your availability in this new landscape is worthwhile.
The offer
It’s hard to distinguish how to move your website forward, even when given time for reflection. It can often help to discuss your challenges online and in general. I’m offering a free 30-minute consultation and an hour’s prep work at my end to undertake a summary of how your website is helping or hindering you to move forward post-lockdown. Feel free to contact me using my contact form below and pop in some details for me to get started. If you can let me know a convenient time to talk, I’ll get back to you.
