Covid-19 – Business Threat or Business Opportunity

I don’t believe that many businesses will have planned for the virtual shut down of the global economy although most business plans will now no doubt include a second wave scenario. Whilst the hospitality, leisure and high street retailers have been hardest hit (and I really feel for the owners and employees of these businesses) it has given organisations in other sectors an opportunity to review their business models and adapt for the new world.

The pandemic has given the team at 360 a real stress test of its IT systems now almost everyone is working from home and after some initial teething problems we now know this is an option for us in the future.

Our phones, e mails, social media channels and Live Chat support lines were put under immense pressure whilst the government were announcing support measures early on in the crisis so we recognised the need to produce a reliable, informative daily update for our clients, set up two Whats App support groups and extended our Live Chat support until late each weekday and on weekends.

We committed to keeping the team intact and unfurloughed to support our clients in their hour of need and produced a Corona Virus Service Commitment that I know our clients really appreciated. Many of these changes will continue long after the pandemic so I guess there is always a silver lining (or an opportunity).

We’ve enjoyed working with our clients to help them adapt their business models to enable survival and then growth and have again been astonished at the positive, entrepreneurial spirit that exists in our region and further afield. If you’d like to bounce some ideas around over a virtual cuppa then please get in touch.