Coronavirus Marketing: Safety, Informing, and the Customer Experience
We are in Week 5 of the Stay At Home initiative, and who knows were in the "4 stage plan" we are in right now, some would say stage 1 and it might look like stage 2 if essential businesses are open, and yet no one is directing this in an informative way so...who really knows. As the weeks go on, not only is business (if you are still working) affected in strange ways, but also personal or every day things are affected.
For example, the other day we needed more food in the house but I had a busy day planned so I decided to go to Aldi's early and when I arrived, I was told that it was the scheduled time for Old and Pregnant people to shop. Don't get me wrong I am glad Aldi's and other stores like that are doing that but I literally could not fit it into my day otherwise and did not get food that day. The next day, I saw my family for the first time since lockdown has started and I wanted to eat Frozen Yogurt with them all. True eating a cold treat on a hot day doesn't seem like that special, but with the right people it is incredibly missed. So we google the nearest one, Tutti Fruity, and online they look like they are open. We drive there to find they shut down temporarily due to Coronavirus, we find a Yogurt Land that is open and then go back to the house and eat happily. I understand if Tutti Fruity could not stay open during Coronavirus, most businesses are not prepared for this. But you should of said something online, not just a paper on your door. Don't create a negative experience where there does not need to be one, keep expectations appropriate and use this time to be ready for when you can be in business again.
Now, two separate occasions happening each day is not enough to get me to write this blog. So what was the third strike you ask? My vet. So before I go on this rant, I would like to say I love my vet, they are good price and good to my cat and the nurses love my boy. As a cat mom, the vet being good with your pet is as important as your babysitter being good with your pet. I would like to analyze the change in customer experience over the course of Coronavirus:
A: Before Coronavirus
You would need to call or make an appointment, but could also walk in. I would walk in, check my pet in, and hand him off to the nurse. They would trim his nails and after he would come out, I would pay and leave. The whole process would take about 20-30 minutes, because literally gals would postpone their break to see the "big cat that came in on a leash".
B: 1-3 Weeks Into Coronavirus
I call to see if they were still in business, they were. But they tell me I need to come in at a certain time, ok so far, and I can drop the cat off inside and then have to wait outside. It really bothered me to wait outside, but he needed his claws trimmed. Me and my cat are close, but even for as close as we are...I can't trim his nails or brush his teeth. So I decided to put aside my feelings and wait outside. As soon as he was done I went inside and paid and left.
C: 4-6 Weeks into Coronavirus
I was thinking of calling, but I did not, he has always been a walk in even during B. So I get there and the door is locked. The front door which used to be for customers to use, is now a "Hospital Employee Entrance Only". So, cat in hand, I call and say I am here and the door is locked I just need his nails trimmed. So they take my information and bring up my account and then come to the door. The gal hands me a slip and says "we can't process your payment inside, so you need to create an account and add your payment card to the file so we can process todays services". I reply, "I don't mind giving you guys my card and you can take it inside (as strange as that seems, it seemed better than me putting a card on file)". She grabs my cat and says shell talk to the manager. I, luckily, already have created an account and just add the card. She comes out with my cat and says she can't take my card, I tell her I added it to the account. She goes in to check and I hold my cat, happy he's back with me. She comes out to get the other patient and pet waiting outside with me now and says I am good to go.
May I remind you, this process (without all this bureaucratic nonsense) normally takes 20-30 minutes. Can you imagine if I did not have an account, and had to create one while holding my cat and a person and their dog nearby? Luckily, again, my cat is amazing and not going to run off or spooked by dogs, but what if my cat was not awesome like that? I know this is a lot of What If's, but these are very realistic what ifs. How many people actually create accounts at all the places that you shop at? How many people train their cat like a dog and get a pretty much perfect cat? I don't think most people do that. Between the training and the password/account organization, its hard to do. Also, what if I did not want my card on file? Yes I use the same card every time, but I do not want it on file and I know I am owed the right to have that information not on their system in that way. But it's the corona-apocalypse, we lose certain rights for the good of everyone else right?
No one wants to say it, but all these "temporary changes" getting progressively worse and worse just means whatever the new "normal" is going to be, is just getting worse too. Many predict that social distancing and face masks will be part of the new "normal". Many are hoping that things will get better when they get back to work, but how many jobs will actually be there when "new normal" gets here? How much more money and inflation can the government produce hoping things "fix themselves"? Yes the coronavirus is a real thing and yes something needs to be done about this, but not at this cost to our economy and the hidden costs to every day lives.
This experience at my vet, made me want to look into a mobile groomer that will let me be there with my pet and not have to put a card on file. Or even better, just get enough people together once a month and get clippers myself. What does this mean? This means that anyone willing to create a good and safe business transaction will not only make it through this time, will also have helped Cat Moms like me when I needed and in the future in "new normal" when everyone who survived is open again, who am I going to choose to give money to in exchange for goods and services? The mobile groomer. Should I be discounting all the good things my vet has done for me? No, but this time of heightened change is leaving a much stronger impression on most people and for me, overpowering the year or so of good business I have had with the vet.
Marketing, which is what this blog is ultimately about, is about obtaining and keeping market share in the mind space of your customers. With heightened emotions, comes long term changes to what is on and stays in the mind. This reminds me of Telltale Games. Telltale games is a choice based story game where your choices change the story. Every now and again you make a decision that seems minor, but then you see this:
You see in the corner, "clementine will remember that"? Clementine is a kid that you meet in the first game and she travels with Lee, the older gentleman. Her parents die at the beginning of the game and Lee is a pseudo father and you play as Lee. His decisions shape how Clementine learns to deal with life as kid growing up during the zombie apocalypse.
What does a game about a Zombie Apocalypse have to do with anything? Besides the fact that this is starting to resemble reality more and more, is that in my experience with my vet I feel like clementine in the above image. I actually thought in my head, "Ashlie will remember that". If you are a business operating during this time, please keep in mind the fine line between a safe and negative customer experience. We as customers want to help keep our normal go to businesses alive and Businesses that employ people who feed their families want to keep their doors open. Yes we need to be safe, but not at the cost of the customer experience or the economy.
P:(657) 246-2298-Email Me - Moxi Zombi Marketing - Blog-Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Flickr - LinkedIn
For example, the other day we needed more food in the house but I had a busy day planned so I decided to go to Aldi's early and when I arrived, I was told that it was the scheduled time for Old and Pregnant people to shop. Don't get me wrong I am glad Aldi's and other stores like that are doing that but I literally could not fit it into my day otherwise and did not get food that day. The next day, I saw my family for the first time since lockdown has started and I wanted to eat Frozen Yogurt with them all. True eating a cold treat on a hot day doesn't seem like that special, but with the right people it is incredibly missed. So we google the nearest one, Tutti Fruity, and online they look like they are open. We drive there to find they shut down temporarily due to Coronavirus, we find a Yogurt Land that is open and then go back to the house and eat happily. I understand if Tutti Fruity could not stay open during Coronavirus, most businesses are not prepared for this. But you should of said something online, not just a paper on your door. Don't create a negative experience where there does not need to be one, keep expectations appropriate and use this time to be ready for when you can be in business again.
Now, two separate occasions happening each day is not enough to get me to write this blog. So what was the third strike you ask? My vet. So before I go on this rant, I would like to say I love my vet, they are good price and good to my cat and the nurses love my boy. As a cat mom, the vet being good with your pet is as important as your babysitter being good with your pet. I would like to analyze the change in customer experience over the course of Coronavirus:
You would need to call or make an appointment, but could also walk in. I would walk in, check my pet in, and hand him off to the nurse. They would trim his nails and after he would come out, I would pay and leave. The whole process would take about 20-30 minutes, because literally gals would postpone their break to see the "big cat that came in on a leash".
B: 1-3 Weeks Into Coronavirus
I call to see if they were still in business, they were. But they tell me I need to come in at a certain time, ok so far, and I can drop the cat off inside and then have to wait outside. It really bothered me to wait outside, but he needed his claws trimmed. Me and my cat are close, but even for as close as we are...I can't trim his nails or brush his teeth. So I decided to put aside my feelings and wait outside. As soon as he was done I went inside and paid and left.
C: 4-6 Weeks into Coronavirus
I was thinking of calling, but I did not, he has always been a walk in even during B. So I get there and the door is locked. The front door which used to be for customers to use, is now a "Hospital Employee Entrance Only". So, cat in hand, I call and say I am here and the door is locked I just need his nails trimmed. So they take my information and bring up my account and then come to the door. The gal hands me a slip and says "we can't process your payment inside, so you need to create an account and add your payment card to the file so we can process todays services". I reply, "I don't mind giving you guys my card and you can take it inside (as strange as that seems, it seemed better than me putting a card on file)". She grabs my cat and says shell talk to the manager. I, luckily, already have created an account and just add the card. She comes out with my cat and says she can't take my card, I tell her I added it to the account. She goes in to check and I hold my cat, happy he's back with me. She comes out to get the other patient and pet waiting outside with me now and says I am good to go.
May I remind you, this process (without all this bureaucratic nonsense) normally takes 20-30 minutes. Can you imagine if I did not have an account, and had to create one while holding my cat and a person and their dog nearby? Luckily, again, my cat is amazing and not going to run off or spooked by dogs, but what if my cat was not awesome like that? I know this is a lot of What If's, but these are very realistic what ifs. How many people actually create accounts at all the places that you shop at? How many people train their cat like a dog and get a pretty much perfect cat? I don't think most people do that. Between the training and the password/account organization, its hard to do. Also, what if I did not want my card on file? Yes I use the same card every time, but I do not want it on file and I know I am owed the right to have that information not on their system in that way. But it's the corona-apocalypse, we lose certain rights for the good of everyone else right?
No one wants to say it, but all these "temporary changes" getting progressively worse and worse just means whatever the new "normal" is going to be, is just getting worse too. Many predict that social distancing and face masks will be part of the new "normal". Many are hoping that things will get better when they get back to work, but how many jobs will actually be there when "new normal" gets here? How much more money and inflation can the government produce hoping things "fix themselves"? Yes the coronavirus is a real thing and yes something needs to be done about this, but not at this cost to our economy and the hidden costs to every day lives.
This experience at my vet, made me want to look into a mobile groomer that will let me be there with my pet and not have to put a card on file. Or even better, just get enough people together once a month and get clippers myself. What does this mean? This means that anyone willing to create a good and safe business transaction will not only make it through this time, will also have helped Cat Moms like me when I needed and in the future in "new normal" when everyone who survived is open again, who am I going to choose to give money to in exchange for goods and services? The mobile groomer. Should I be discounting all the good things my vet has done for me? No, but this time of heightened change is leaving a much stronger impression on most people and for me, overpowering the year or so of good business I have had with the vet.
Marketing, which is what this blog is ultimately about, is about obtaining and keeping market share in the mind space of your customers. With heightened emotions, comes long term changes to what is on and stays in the mind. This reminds me of Telltale Games. Telltale games is a choice based story game where your choices change the story. Every now and again you make a decision that seems minor, but then you see this:
You see in the corner, "clementine will remember that"? Clementine is a kid that you meet in the first game and she travels with Lee, the older gentleman. Her parents die at the beginning of the game and Lee is a pseudo father and you play as Lee. His decisions shape how Clementine learns to deal with life as kid growing up during the zombie apocalypse.
What does a game about a Zombie Apocalypse have to do with anything? Besides the fact that this is starting to resemble reality more and more, is that in my experience with my vet I feel like clementine in the above image. I actually thought in my head, "Ashlie will remember that". If you are a business operating during this time, please keep in mind the fine line between a safe and negative customer experience. We as customers want to help keep our normal go to businesses alive and Businesses that employ people who feed their families want to keep their doors open. Yes we need to be safe, but not at the cost of the customer experience or the economy.
P:(657) 246-2298-Email Me - Moxi Zombi Marketing - Blog-Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Flickr - LinkedIn
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