Everyone is confused, so we've compiled a practical guide for those of you, wondering what actions can help to weather this unprecedented storm.

Below we'll identify: 

• How to keep your customer experience momentum going
• Employee engagement tips for optimising empathy
• A financial action plan for Australian retailers

1. CX Momentum through empathy

Consumer brands need to make concessions to help ease burdens brought on by Coronavirus. Now is the time to facilitate intentional commerce and be there for your customers when they need you most.  

How can your brand help:

1. Use existing customer journey maps to find ways to address specific challenges in light of new circumstances. 
2. Be transparent and make information easily accessible - things like updating delivery estimates in periods of high demand and upfront information on handling and shipping procedures. 
3. Leverage store staff for more than just support enquiries. If you have online chat, now is the time to leverage the wealth of knowledge your store staff have in helping customers purchase. If you're an Omneo customer, you can use our Zendesk app, to provide staff with all the information they need in one place. It could also be a good time to look at Zendesk talk to set your agents up to take calls using their existing phones.
4. Lean on your mission statement - your employees are making judgement calls every day regarding how to handle situations they have probably never encountered before. Your mission here is to help them make the "right" call as much as they can. Refer to and repeat it to provide a north star for these short-term decisions when possible.
5. Revisit your automation, add context where necessary or a human touch where more empathy might be needed.
6. Look at the big picture; the last thing customers want when feeling particularly vulnerable or burnt out is to repeat themselves - for those on Omneo, it's a good time to check if staff know they can leave notes and review customer histories in Clienteling.
7. Build a Community. In a time where social distancing is necessary, the introduction of things like Netflix Party is a great way to help keep people social. How can you create social experiences to bring people together? 
8. Check in on customer feedback to gauge common pain points and adjust accordingly. It's a good time for personalised support and follow-ups. 
9. Pivot to contactless modes of operation. For Target, this is contactless click and collect; for Uber, it's 'leave at the door' deliveries. For you, it might be taking virtual styling sessions. How can you update operations to assure customers you're putting community health and safety front and centre? 
10. Is your product or service something remote workers could really use right now? Can you help the people self-quarantined at home? Consider this your chance to do some good, and your customers will never forget your generosity. Don't discount the benefits of word-of-mouth. Something as simple as a handwritten letter or additional customer incentives to your best customers could go a long way. 

These are not all the answers, and frankly, we don't know all the questions. But during this time, let's help each other and keep focusing on the experience we want.

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2. Employee Engagement 

As employees are being asked to WFH and question marks loom over job security, it's more important than ever to be mindful of employees' mental well-being and engagement. It's the right thing, and it also means they are better positioned to be empathetic with customers.  

What you can do:

• Make sure employees have everything they need to set up their space for effective work and exceed customer expectations (this doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise, at Omneo, we had Director Pete do a ute run with office chairs, desks, keyboards and monitors out to those team members without good WFH setups) 
• Be Transparent. Clear and consistent communications about customer pain points, the evolving situation and changes in operations mean that staff can then clearly communicate to customers. 
• Lead by example - empathy is contagious and can be shown through regular engagement and check-ins via: 
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Check out this article for those of you who have large dispersed teams and are looking for a solid plan of attack during this time. 

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3. A Financial Action Plan

Many brick-and-mortar retailers have been forced to close their doors, and some independent e-commerce sellers are struggling with price and product availability manipulation on big platforms like Amazon.

What you can do: 

1. Avoid leasing customers to third parties - keep relationships between your brand and your best customers direct and one-to-one.
2. Review Rosters v Trading Hours and create a saving plan, review your inventory and adjust accordingly, so you don't hold too much stock in hand/payables. Follow Jason Andrew on Linkedin for tips on recession planning.
3. Ensure your eCommerce system is up to scratch, monitoring and removing friction from checkout, delivery and returns. 
4. Negotiate with Banks to defer loan payments.
5. Understand what ATO SMEs payment deferral concessions apply to your business. They are outlined as follows:
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6.  Contact your bank/lending institution about new loan terms. The government will provide a guarantee of 50% of new loans written by banks and SME lenders to support new short-term unsecured loans to SMEs.
7. You may be eligible for instant asset write-offs up to $150k.
8. If you are currently paying payroll tax, you will receive a refund for the first three quarters of this financial year.
9. Create a revised sales and cash flow projection to the end of this calendar year, making assumptions based on the above savings.
10. Get onto your Landlord and discuss where they fit into the battle plan. This may be through rent abatement, deferring rent, extending lease term or a combination of these. 

Keep up the good work

It’s definitely not business as usual right now, but there are ways to make customer experiences during the coronavirus pandemic feel a little closer to normal. We may not be able to meet in large groups or in person, but we can keep providing experiences that matter to the people who need them.

How have you shifted your customer experience strategy during coronavirus? Share your ideas to help fellow CX professionals scrambling for a solution.

Tess O'Brien