Communication in Crisis

If there is anything that this past month has taught us, it is the importance of communication. Everyone has been focused on health, prevention, and safety for several weeks now. As a beauty professional, what did you communicate to your clients, and what actions did you take to remain in line with all of the protocols? What channels did you communicate through? The same goes for your employees; what critical pieces of information did you provide for them to remain educated in a situation like a pandemic? 

We live in a world where, at any moment, we can be thrown into a crisis. Which type? We can’t know for sure. However, what we can tell you is that if you’re prepared with the proper communication tactics and how to get it to your clients and employees, you’ll be a step ahead. Check out some ideas we have on how to get all ears and eyes on what you have to announce. 

Communicating to Clients: 

1. Video content: Video works for all sorts of content you’d like to put out. However, in the middle of a crisis, a message from you and your team to your clients will go a long way. Showing your face will give clients a sense that we’re all in this together. 
   
2. Retain a calm vibe: Whichever channel you’re using to communicate with your clients, ensure a calm demeanor throughout the message. Your clients will catch onto this and understand that they can trust you during tough times. 
   
3. Sum up key points: At the end of each post, sum up the important takeaways. This way, you ensure that you repeat it at least one more time. Rinse, lather, REPEAT, right?! Repetition is crucial. 
   
4. Make things easy: If clients have to reschedule their appointments, cancel or make changes due to various circumstances, just make sure it’s easy for them to make these adjustments. In all content that you put out, announce whether you have staff readily available to make changes and/or provide clients with the correct links to do it themselves. 
   
5. Community support: If you’re able, support an organization that is helping to make a change or provide relief to individuals. This is a meaningful way to inspire clients to get involved, as well. 

Communicating to Employees: 

1. Power up weekly meetings: Choose a day of the week in which you feel your employees could use a boost. Take this time to talk about updates and protocols and provide moral boosts. 
   
2. Share relevant digital content: If you feel your employees aren’t present when face to face, you best believe they will check their phones. Share and send content related to the current situation. Think infographics, podcasts, and blogs! 
   
3. Sum up key points: After each meeting, email, text, etc., be sure to sum up essential takeaways. 
   
4. Assign a response team or individual: Based on the size of your business, choose an individual or a group for this task. The assigned person/team would be in charge of collecting relevant information and staying current with any updates and protocols released at a national or international level. It would be a good idea to provide them with specific, trusted sources from which they can retrieve the information. 
   
5. Explain why: If you’re going to change any protocols in your business, update employees as to why you made the decision. Everyone wants to feel included as part of a team. 

At Rosy, we strive to develop the best communication features that allow you, the beauty professional, to connect with your clients. We know that many of you use our email campaigns (powered by SalonInteractive), email/text reminders, email/text confirmations, and cancellation messages. With that being said, we’d like to announce that coming in a few weeks, we’re slated to release yet another way for you to service your clients via communication. Stay tuned! 

Please remember to always take care of each other and stay safe out there. Help those in need, and let’s not forget to stick together. 

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash