Have you set your Engagement Goals for 2021?

While a new year is always an exciting time for new goals and opportunities, this year most of us are just thrilled to be putting the mess that was 2020 behind us.

This was an impossibly difficult year, where for many it seemed like bad news was just incessant. However with a vaccine on the horizon, there is hope that things may look ‘more normal’ at this time next year.

Yet the reality is that newly-minted lockdowns in place at least through January, and vaccine roll-outs that will take several months, the first portion at least of 2021 might not look that much different than the end of 2020. Until warmer weather arrives, it seems like most of us may be looking at a long winter indoors.

So as businesses work hard to keep pivoting in the wake of an ever-changing lockdown situation, it may feel nearly impossible to set business goals for 2021. What ordinarily seemed like a standard end-of-year process may now feel daunting when everyday activities are surrounded by so much uncertainty. How do you project revenue when you don’t know week to week whether you’ll be able to open your physical doors, or retain your part time staff?

Instead, 2021 may be the year that we shift our focus.

Now more than ever, the primary challenge of any business fighting to survive COVID restrictions is engagement. Customers and clients are looking for simple and safe solutions that generally do not require them to leave the house. This means in-home delivery for both products and services that’s quicker and more efficient than any competitors. No small feat, especially for a small business!

This new world requires businesses of all size to really give a second thought to their client engagement strategy. Where larger businesses focus tremendous energy on loyalty programs and initiatives, small businesses can all too easily take their loyal client base for granted. There were always those friendly faces that ‘dropped by the store to say hello,’ or those repeat customers that ordered your product regularly, or have been using your service for years.

Restriction lockdowns have created a divide in those face-to-face relationships, and now a distance between between businesses and their clients that owners are working so hard to bridge. Bridging that gap, in turn, means some strategic thinking about how to pivot your engagement strategy. How will you use your online presence to acquire new customers and clients? Having a COVID policy on your website is a great first step, but how will you keep your clients safe by broadening your virtual offerings for the long term?

The internet opens up a world of possibilities for your business. Think about what those may look like as you’re setting your client engagement goals for 2021. Please feel free to contact us to let us know what they are - we would love to help you reach them.

Take care, stay safe, and happy holidays. Here’s to an exciting year ahead!