Toronto, Ontario — Simplicity Car Care hosted a COVID-19 Navigation webinar last week, featuring tips on forming a “solid gameplan” amid the pandemic.
Simplicity’s presentation outlined some implications of the pandemic—including loss of business, appointment cancellations, reduced access to parts and staff layoffs—as well as how businesses can navigate these challenges.
Domenic Ieraci, president of Simplicity, led the hour-long webinar, outlining some tips to help business owners develop their own gameplans amid the pandemic.
Active communication
First, Ieraci suggested you remain active in communicating with your customers and staff—let them know you are there to support them during this time, and that your shop is taking extra precautions.
“It’s important that you lead with hope and optimism. It’s not effective for us, as business leaders, to have fear or doubt,” said Domenic Ieraci, president of Simplicity. “Now is the time for a leader or manager of a centre to step up and offer optimism and hope. We need to embed that in our people and work together amid the virus.”
Liquidity and cash flow
Ieraci also emphasized how important your liquidity and cash-on-hand is—as well as your cash flow. To assure you have enough cash on hand, he suggested reaching out to your banks and lenders to discuss or extend your payment terms, and payment deferrals or short-term loans, if necessary.
“They’ll be expecting your call,” said Ieraci. “Having cash flow on hand is going to allow you to be agile and survive the times at hand.
Grow your fleet business
According to Ieraci, with fleets off the road due to the virus, now is the perfect time to reach out to your fleet clients and other local businesses with fleets to arrange repair agreements.
“In times of uncertainty, we need to move forward. We need to keep our foot on the gas and look for ways to grow our businesses,” said Ieraci. “Introduce yourself to these clients and offer a discounted rate to fix all their cars—that will drive significant, significant volume. And you may just be able to secure a new customer.”
Don’t stop marketing
While businesses will need to cut costs amid slowdowns, Ieraci emphasized to not cut costs on your marketing endeavours.
Rather, Simplicity suggests your business revamp its marketing strategy for the current needs of your customer base. Ieraci referenced how brands like Uber Eats and other fast-food chains have doubled down on their marketing campaigns amid COVID-19 and seen great success.
“Now is not the time to be a passive business owner,” said Ieraci. “It’s the time to be a progressive business owner and invest in marketing, even if you’ve been there for 30 years.”
Click here to watch the webinar.
