How to reopen safely so your customers feel secure

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As more businesses begin to open their doors in the wake of recent events, knowing how to reopen safely will quickly become job number one for many organizations. Customers want to know that you understand their concerns, so update them on the steps you’re taking to ensure their safety.

According to Harvard Business Review, the best way to create and sustain safe workplace practices is with 200% accountability. This means employees are responsible for following safe practices (the first 100%)—and they are also responsible for ensuring everyone around them does too (the second 100%).

These tips and safety promotional items show customers their concerns are your concerns. This way, when they’re ready to visit your store, they’ll feel safe doing so.

Before your organization opens, let customers know your company will soon be back in business—and that you’re looking forward to seeing them.

To keep them in the loop:

Whenever possible, be sure to communicate your new safety measures and guidelines too.

When considering how to reopen your business, social distancing still applies. Keeping employees and customers six feet apart at all times can be a challenge, but you can accomplish it with some creativity and safety promotional items.

Moving desks apart, widening aisles, or using large floor or wall stickers to direct the flow of traffic can make staff and customers feel safe.

You can also make aisles one-way and/or reconfigure doors so they can be opened hands-free.

People walking into your business will want to know at a glance that you’ve reopened with their safety in mind. Make it easy to see the precautions you’re taking:

Be sure to keep in mind that if you’re providing masks to employees, you will want to have a procedure in place to ensure usage is the same for all staff members.

If your organization started to offer curbside pickup, e-commerce options or video consultations, keep these lines of business open. Doing so creates a win-win scenario for your company and your customers—it provides safe options to shop for those customers who aren’t ready or able to visit in person.

Taking care of your customers has always been a top priority—and even more so now. Knowing how to reopen safely and sharing the process with customers will give them peace of mind that their health and safety is top of mind.