Reopening Best Practices - Content for Your Company's Website

Posted on July 29, 2020 by John Gille

We have developed new content for editorial articles for your use on with your writers for your website or any other online channels you feel may be appropriate. Please share with your team and your members.

This content will be of particular interest for your members seeking to be compliant with CDC Guidelines and OSHA Standards and Directives. It is organized in a modular fashion to make it easy to leverage parts as needed.

For your convenience, below is a summary of what we’ve provided:

Six (6) pages of content documenting (with 3^rd party data) how customers/patients are changing behaviors and selection of services
How your members can effectively reopen and prosper in a COVID-19 world
What best practices have been developed and validated to ensure the safety of patients and employees.

With the recent and significant increase in COVID-19 transmission rates dominating the news cycle, the content we are providing is very pertinent to your members and will help drive page-views.

Provided below are six (6) headline/sub-head options for potential use within your association’s website. Below those options you will find the core content which supports any of the headline/sub-head options.

Theme 1: COVID-19 News

Option 1a:

Headline: What we know about Managing Business in a COVID-19 World

Sub-head: Strict Safety Protocols and PPE are Critical to Restarting Your Business

Intro. Paragraph: We speak to service providers every day of the week. This article identifies the proven best practices. What we’ve learned is that the vast majority of customers/patients prefer service providers that have implemented a COVID-19 safety protocols and comprehensive PPE.

Option 1b:

Headline: Managing Your Business in a COVID-19 World: The Knowns and Unknowns

Knowns:

COVID-19 will not go away until an effective vaccine has been developed
The majority of customers/patients (88%)⁽²⁾support COVID-19 safety protocols and it’s effecting their buying decisions - including services
Which safety protocols/PPE is working best for service providers
The penalties for non-compliance are significant

Unknowns:

When an effective vaccine will be available

Option 1c:

Headline: A proven strategy very well executed beats an innovative strategy every time

Sub-head: We now know what customers/patients want from service providers in a COVID-19 world. What matters is how effectively your business addresses these new customer/patient expectations.

Theme 2: Business Posture

Option 2a:

Headline: Business Success in a COVID-19 World Takes Offense

Sub-head: When the landscape is shifting beneath your feet, playing offense is far more difficult, but those firms that do will be the winners

Intro. Paragraph: Over the last three months, we’ve spoken to a multitude of service providers about restarting their business. If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that a reactive posture results in lost business and that the most proactive businesses are reaping the rewards.

Theme 3: Reopening Guide

Option 3a

Headline: Reopening America: Best Practices for Service Businesses

Sub-head: In three short months, we have learned what a successful safety protocol looks like and how service providers should tune their PPE plans.

Theme 4: Reopening – Profitably

Option 4a:

Headline: How to Fast-track the Return to Profitability

Sub-heads: With the right PPE plan, you can conform to COVID-19 safety protocols and accelerate your path to operating at full capacity.

CORE CONTENT TO BE USED IN ALL VERSIONS

Customer Concerns about COVID-19

As we work to contain the current COVID-19 crisis, businesses are concerned about customer optimism. The foundations of customer loyalty, trust and confidence are being put to the test. While we all hope this is a temporary situation, anxiety is high, people are scared and there is no end in sight. Services account for 68% of the United States Economy so how service providers respond to this unprecedented environment is critically important. ⁽¹⁾

The CDC recently released a study which reported that 88% of consumers support social distancing protocols and prefer organizations that observe those protocols as well as OSHA Standards and Directives. ^{(3) (4)}

We also know that service businesses benefit from a proactive PPE approach because:

Customers/patients favor businesses with a comprehensive PPE program and will return to those businesses first
Customers/patients are actively sharing their perceptions about COVID-19 PPE compliance via word-of-mouth (particularly social media). For those businesses aggressively implementing safety protocols and PPE this is driving customer acquisition – particularly for service providers
The stop-the-spread PPE practices are preferred by customers/patients of all ages and backgrounds

In short, customers/patients are very aware of COVID-19 transmission rates and the importance of safety protocols. They want reassurance that the businesses they visit are doing everything possible to limit the spread. As a service provider, this presents an excellent opportunity for you to differentiate your business in the marketplace and rise above the competition.

Managing the Downside

With the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the United States quickly approaching 3 Million, and the recent up-tick of infection rates reported across multiple states, many municipalities and state’s attorney general are more actively enforcing PPE compliance with increased audit levels and penalties.

The COVID-19 non-compliance penalties are damaging from both a negative PR and revenue perspectives. They can be financially devastating or even result in forced business closure. For example, the Miami Police Department conducted an audit of 10,220 businesses on 6/20/2020 for COVID-19 compliance. Forty-five (45) business were issued warnings and three were immediately shutdown.⁽⁵⁾

To summarize, taking an aggressive PPE approach will:

Bring customers/patients back to your business faster
Increased loyalty among your existing customer base
Drive new customer/patient acquisition

PPE and Your Safety Protocol

A successful PPE plan should include more than masks and hand sanitizer. Below are four components that are particularly important for service providers.

Sneeze/Counter Guards

Sneeze/Counter Guards and Safety Shields are key visual clues for your customers/patients that immediately informs them that you’re a business that has invested in their safety and that of your employees. Acrylic Sneeze/Counter Guards and Safety Shields placed in high-traffic and close proximity areas are important measures to limit airborne transmission which we now know is more important than managing surface transmission.

Common oversights: How these panels are sized and placed within your business is a key consideration that is frequently overlooked. Far too often we see the execution is hap hazard and detracts considerably from the quality image of the service provider. The need for panels which easily interconnect (no need for tools or panel modifications) is often overlooked. Last, the size of pass-through cut-outs also needs to be considered based on the type of services your business provides.

There are well established suppliers of Sneeze/Counter Guards and Safety Shields which offer unique configurations, flexibility, durability and ease of installation.

Sneeze/Counter Guards (Link to Image Bank)

Image tags: COVID-19 PPE, COVID-19 Sneeze Guards

Floor Barriers and Room Dividers

Depending on the type of service business you offer and the layout of your facility, customizing floor barriers and room dividers can enhance the customer/patient experience. There are suppliers which design, develop and deliver customized floor barriers and room dividers. The options include custom images and messaging which can be incorporated into single or multiple panels and cover varied portions of the acrylic surface. For example, configuring room dividers or floor barriers to be transparent on top and translucent on the bottom provides privacy that customers/patients appreciate. The type of images or designs selected can complement or even enhance your existing décor’.

Customized Floor Barriers and Room Dividers (Link to Image Bank)

Image tags: COVID-19 PPE, COVID-19 Room Dividers, Coronavirus

Face Shields

A face shield combined with a mask is the most effective method to protect your customers/patients and employees from the airborne transmission of COVID-19. This is a standard practice within the medical industry and has been validated by multiple infection studies as it protects the eyes, mouth and nose. In many states, the use of face shields in addition to masks is required to be compliant with COVID-19 protocols. These are must have PPE provisions in service business such as healthcare, hair/nail salons, physical therapy, dental and restaurant/lodging wherein customer proximity is less than three feet.

Limiting the employee fatigue caused by masks and shields is important to ensure your employees are providing the best service experience for your customers/patients. It is important to select a supplier that offers face shields which are both designed for comfort and functionality. Specifying face shields with an adequate thickness, comfort cushions and the flip-up function will significantly ease the PPE implementation and improves employee satisfaction.

Flip Up Face Shield (Link to Image Bank)

Image tags: COVID-19 PPE, COVID-19 Face Shield, COVID-19 Masks

Social Distancing Signage (Outdoor/Indoor)

Social distancing is about fundamentally changing how humans interact; don’t underestimate the difficulty of driving this type of change. Consistently messaging your commitment to social distancing and PPE will play a key role in the success of your COVID-19 safety protocols. This is true for both your customers/patients and employees.

It all starts street-side: customers/patients are rethinking where they go for services based on the perceived safety of the environment. Placing prominent signage in front of your business is critical along with all high-traffic areas such as entry/egress points and restrooms. Don’t overlook the need for messaging in common areas like break rooms and other back-office locations.

The quality and durability of messaging decals reflect both on your company’s quality standards and your perceived commitment to COVID-19 protocols. A hand-written note on an 8 ½ X 11 sheet of copy paper posted to the entry of your business sends the wrong message to your customer. For many service businesses, sourcing decals is entirely new. Make sure to buy your decals from a vendor that has supplied the retail industry (or a similarly demanding environment).