With the world in disarray, it can sometimes be hard to get a handle on what is happening in your business, where your customers are at, and how you will come out of this on the other side.

We have found that, right now, businesses generally fall into one of four quadrants:
1. Hibernate: close the bulk of the business and wait until you can trade again, e.g. event locations, restaurants, cruise companies.
2. Hunker Down: assume the recession will unwind in a few months or a year, slash costs, keep ticking over, grab chances where available and prepare for after the crisis.
3. Operate: assume this is how things are going to be for a while, cut costs, be agile, find out where there are needs and meet them.
4. Pivot: stop doing X and start doing Y, e.g. look at new delivery options and develop new products such as ventilators and face masks based on market needs.

Depending on where your business sits, you may be asking some of these questions:

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Hibernate

‍What is the consumer sentiment around our company hibernating and how will it affect our brand?
How do we stay relevant and keep people interested in our brand?
Our company is being forced to hibernate because we don't know how to pivot.  What can we do?
We don't know what things will look like in the future once we re-open.  We are keen to explore new services and associated comms for when we emerge from this.

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Hunker Down

‍What do our customers need as bare minimum?
How do we ensure the products and services we are focusing on are the right ones?
When we come out of this - what is the world going to look like? And how do we make sure that our first moves are the right ones?

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Operate

‍How have our customers, and their requirements, changed?
How are our employees adapting to working from home?
How has the customer journey changed, and is our business aligned?
Are we utilizing the right channels now the customer journey is different?
We've had our budgets cut; how can we better use the data we have?  How can we move our research online?
How do we know if our external comms are hitting the mark and if we are using the right tone and language?
What does consumer discretionary spend look like now and what will it look like post COVID-19?

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Pivot

‍What other products and services can we develop that will meet the new consumer needs?
Are my products/ services considered 'safe' in the current environment and can we improve them?
How can we test new concepts when there is no face-to-face research?
We have changed our business model.  What do our frontline staff need help with to upskill?
Given this amount of change, how do our staff feel about the change of direction?

More info in our PDF Download.

At Potentiate, we work with businesses in all four quadrants to help them keep connected to their customers, understand their employees’ needs, and gain a better understanding of the markets in which they operate. Review our COVID-19 dedicated resources or, if you need a hand navigating the new world, contact us today.

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