Many of your customers may be self-quarantining, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stay connected and continue providing excellent service during the COVID-19 “Stay at Home” directive. During this uncertain time, frequency, consistency and precision need to be the goals when communicating with your patrons. Coming across as vague or non-communicative with messaging could only add to feelings of uncertainty.
Let Customers Know What You're Doing to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19
While COVID-19 is not considered a foodborne illness by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), letting customers know that you are doing everything you can to mitigate the risk is an act of good faith towards your patrons. Posting signage at your location about current cleaning initiatives is a great place to start. Other options include posting on social media regarding your cleaning efforts or sending out an email to your customers about any new protocols you may be following.
If you are changing your hours or closing your store to deep-clean, be sure to share that information in as many places as you can, so customers are aware.
Focus on Serving Through Digital Channels
When building out your customer service capabilities, online is a great place to start. Increase communication on social media through Facebook Messenger or other messaging platforms and respond to customer queries in a timely manner.
You may already offer phone and email support to your customers, but now is the time to ensure your patrons can reach you. If you haven’t already, make sure that your location contact information is updated, and readily available on your website and search engines. Advertise as much as you can about any services you are currently offering.
Beef Up Online Sales
The public is looking for ways to help support small businesses at this time. Offering the online sales of gift cards means a quick injection of cash to help your business through this time, and can guarantee that customers will be coming back to your establishment when the dine-in ban is lifted. Other options for new income streams could be selling merchandise and shelf-stable items online. Now is the time to get creative with your customer offerings.
This is an unprecedented time for our industry, but try to shift your focus from what you can’t do to what you CAN do. Accel Entertainment is here to help all video gaming locations any way we can. To learn more about dealing with the evolving COVID-19 outbreak, view our running blog of up-to-date information.