Speaker 1: As we are all too aware, coronavirus concerns in North America are escalating. If your company hasn't put out a public message yet, now's the time. My advice for your first simple communication coming up. Hey everyone, how are you doing? If we haven't met yet, my name is Tiffany Burns, news anchor and reporter turned media coach. As we all know, the coronavirus is turning the business landscape into a very unsettling place right now. Your plans for the next few weeks, months, maybe even the rest of the year might be out the window right now. And that sounds really scary to say out loud, but if I'm thinking it, I think others might be thinking it too. And you should be thinking about it for the external messaging of your business. One thing you can do is communicate clearly with your clients and customers. This is the time to be upfront and as transparent as possible. Because the one thing you can control right now is your messaging. I know I've been working nonstop with my clients right now with their messaging. And in fact, I don't even remember the last time I washed my hair. But I think this topic is really important right now. So I wanted to make a quick video despite my lack of normal routine. So let's get right into it. Behind the scenes, you're probably all over it, communicating with employees, creating new health and safety protocols, and being prepared to pivot with each new piece of news. But do your clients know what you're up to? Or how about your customers? If you haven't yet sent out a public message, now's the time, today. Your first communication can be something fairly simple. The main point is to reassure your clients and customers that you're on top of things and you're monitoring the situation closely. What type of communication should you use? If you're a corporate leader or an entrepreneur, LinkedIn is always a good bet. It could also be your other social media channels. It could be your website. Or it could be your email. I think it should be all of them. The important thing right now is to let your customers know that you're paying close attention to the latest updates on the situation and you're focused on doing the right thing for both your employees and your clients, both in health and safety terms and business terms. This is different from internal messaging you might be doing with employees right now, letting them know about best health and safety practices, or other detailed messages you might be giving about sick leave, working remotely, and travel. This is also different from those signs you might have been hanging in your workplace or your store. Your goal here is to craft a reassuring and fairly brief message. You're touching base about changes that might be about to go into effect or ones that have already gone into effect. At this point, you may have many plans and protocols in place, and you're also probably prepared to pivot as needed. But you don't have to give out every detail. Also, news updates on the coronavirus are happening every minute it seems. So people are going to be understanding that as the news changes, plans and protocols will be changing too. Of course, if you're doing something that will directly affect your clients, definitely mention it. You might be putting something in motion that will benefit your clients. This message will be seen as a status update for your company, so make it work for you. But in a general communication, a big-sky approach is A-OK. After all, you want to convey this one simple truth. You're on top of this. After all, this could be just the first in a series of updates. You can end this message by saying you'll be doing more updates as necessary to emphasize that you're being as transparent as possible. Sometimes we get so busy dealing with the challenge, we forget that our clients might actually not realize that we're doing just that, unless we tell them. In this unprecedented situation, don't hesitate to be heartfelt and let people know your thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this virus. This is a scary illness that we don't understand yet. People have died. Many are sick. Folks are having their work and education interrupted. Events have been canceled, and travel is also getting canceled all over the place. These are difficult times. That's why it's totally appropriate to say that your heart goes out to anyone having problems. If you're looking for more inspiration on how to craft the ideal message, you probably don't need to look any further than your email inbox. I know I've received tons of messages from businesses I frequent, and I've gotten some really good ones from the CEOs of Starbucks, of Marriott, of United Airlines, and others. And I guess I should mention in terms of the actual message itself, mostly I've been thinking about a written message, something that you post on social media. You can do a video one, but it takes some more effort, and it's a little more nerve-wracking, and you have to worry about a lot of other things besides just your message. You need to worry about what's behind you in the camera frame, the lighting on your face, what you're wearing, whether you have makeup on, whether you have anything stuck in your teeth. So in these times when we all don't have any time to think about extra stuff, I'd recommend just putting it in writing for now. How are you communicating to your clients and customers in these uncertain times? Let me know in the comments section below. In the meantime, thank you so much for watching. Please stay safe and healthy, everyone, and I'll see you in the next video.