However, collaboration becomes impossible if it is not based on trust. Trust is required for working together and building community spirit, and in a crisis, it becomes the most important thing of all.
Openness is important in communications
The groundwork for trust is laid under normal conditions and ultimately tested in the event of a crisis. Authenticity is key in all efforts to build and maintain trust, but communications are equally important in an emergency. Defining a shared goal and keeping everyone informed about it helps to alleviate uncertainty and establish confidence in the future.
Extraordinary conditions are sure to give rise to concerns among employees and customers as to whether or not the company can fulfill its obligations and ensure the availability of services amid constant changes. Providing regular updates on the situation, along with honest communications internally and with customers, is important to dissolve these concerns. Even though current circumstances necessitate a focus on social distancing, communications must keep flowing from person to person. Fortunately, this is also possible through remote connections.
In addition to building trust, contact with customers helps to keep communication channels open. The coronavirus epidemic is changing the needs of the markets and our customers, and interaction is the only way to learn about these changes. We can already see many shifts that are likely to be permanent. For example, digitalisation has accelerated in many fields: schools have taken a digital leap and the demand for online grocery shopping has exploded. At the same time, people have begun to favor local companies, and even many internationally operating businesses have begun moving their procurement chains back to Finland.
Listening to and understanding our customers is the only way to recognize market changes sufficiently early on, act on them and continue improving our customer services.
Cooperation is a source of strength to carry us through the crisis
Even though the coronavirus epidemic is a cause of much concern, it can also serve to open new doors and provide opportunities for new kinds of business.
By joining forces and leveraging our strengths, we can turn the market changes into an advantage and establish ourselves as one of the pioneering companies working together with our customers and partners to build new business operations for the future.
