COVID-19 has been one of the most disruptive health and economic stories in our lifetimes. Whether we live in a large urban city like New York City or a small rural town seemingly isolated from this crisis, our lives have been turned upside down—even if we haven’t been infected.
At a time of huge disruption like this, it’s all too easy to focus on the short-term. We’re all trying to get through this damage with as little damage as possible. Even so, we can’t forget that this crisis will end. From regular social distancing to an eventual vaccine, our quarantine lives will come to an end.
Therefore, it’s worth thinking about how you can leverage digital solutions after this crisis ends. To help with this process, we have outlined several ideas that can allow your business to capitalize on a post-COVID-19 world.
Digital Solutions To Help You Accelerate After COVID-19
To start, automation and contactless service can help you bridge the gap between the current and post-COVID-19 world. We are now living in an era of social distancing and it’s unclear when life will return to “normal.” That being said, there will come a time where we are heading back to work, yet have to face some risk of infection.
The winning business, therefore, will be those that make customers feel safe. A clear way to do this is by embracing automation and contactless service. Large companies from Domino’s to Carvana are already capitalizing on this trend, and more companies will inevitably follow them. Bain & Co., in fact, argues that contactless business is here to stay.
No matter the size or sector of your business, it’s critical to start planning for this automated future now. Think about your in-person customer interactions and how you can replace them with contactless service. While it may not be ideal, an increasing number of your customers will be expecting it.
Next, video content is going to become increasingly important. Returning to normal life isn’t going to be like flipping a light switch. Your customers, in all likelihood, will continue to be conservative—even if given an “all clear” signal by local or federal governments.
If we are living in a predominantly-contactless world for the foreseeable future, regular video content can help you build goodwill with your customers. Whether you are posting videos on your blog or social media channels, creating high-value and regular content can keep your customers engaged. You can continue to build deep customer relationships—even if you are not meeting them face-to-face.
Finally, we encourage you to embrace the work-from-home movement after COVID-19. This may not be a ground-shaking theory. Locked up in quarantine, many of us have communicated with our colleagues through Zoom (or perhaps Skype). Synchronous video technology has gotten so good that we can see and speak with others around the world with little to no lag.
The work-from-home movement started well before COVID-19. While the movement had no choice but to grow due to widespread lockdowns, we expect the momentum to continue. Ernst & Young has already declared that remote work will become the new normal, even after this pandemic concludes.
There are several consequences here. For one, we expect to see more startups and larger companies developing products to make remote work easier. Everything from better synchronous communication to tools to increased security for work-from-home arrangements is fair game. But beyond that, companies will need to think about implementing more flexible or remote work arrangements for their employees. It’s safe to say that their competitors will be doing the same. Ultimately, think about trying out some of these new remote-first digital products and implementing a longer-term work-from-home program for your team.
Embracing These Radical Shifts
For as much as we want “normalcy” to return to our world, the simple fact is that COVID-19 will change our lives for years to come. The good news, however, is that we can prepare for this new future right now.
The trends above are just some of the long-term effects that we will encounter. The bottom line? You and your colleagues need to be adaptable. Change isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, it can lead to some compelling opportunities in the next few years. In the end, be observant and embrace execution.
