I don’t know about you but it is certainly not ‘business as usual’ at the moment, in fact, quite the opposite, with the world turned upside down and everyone still trying to grasp the COVID-19 nettle and deal with this terrible crisis.
But we have to believe that we can get through this and we have to do all we can to ensure that our economy and our businesses can survive. The wheels of business do need to somehow keep turning so that we can rebuild things once it is safe to do so.
That is why we as a manufacturer have been trying to collate general guidance for our customers, so that we can help them find out where to turn to for help and advice in these worrying and challenging times.
Collecting useful information for customers seems like a simple thing we can do
Rachel Lekman Marketing Manager
Looking beyond the crisis
Businesses are all looking for a way through this pandemic and at Mitsubishi Electric, we have been quick to react by enabling the majority of us to work from home, giving us the tools and access needed to make sure we can carry on helping both our business and that of our customers.
Of course we need to keep everyone as safe as possible, and of course we all need to play our part in minimising the risk of transfer of this deadly virus, so staying at home is the only sensible thing for us all to do.
But we also need to have something to come back to once the situation is ‘manageable’, if not exactly all over. That’s why we’ve taken the decision to collect information that our customers will find useful and publish it in one spot on our website.
Help and advice in one place
We have taken the latest Government statements on key issues such as the Job Retention Scheme; VAT payment deferrals, and Statutory Sick Pay and, put links to them all in one place, to make it as easy as possible for our customers.
We’ve looked at the support the Government is offering to the self-employed and focus on what trade associations such as BESA (The Building Engineering Services Association) are saying. BESA for example has been holding an excellent series of midday webinars to help members stay informed.
The page also offers advice on how customers can use any time spent working from home to plan for the time beyond the coronavirus crisis, offering guidance on how to revamp websites and also build a Business Continuity Plan, to help develop the steps needed for recovery.
Simples
This is a challenging and difficult time for everyone and our priority is always a safety-first approach, which is why we are now trying to support the market from our own homes, keeping travel and physical contact to the essentials only.
We know that many of our customers are likely to directly feel the impact of this lockdown and will therefore be faced with difficulties during this time.
Collecting useful information that may help our customers both now and when this crisis has passed seems a simple thing to do.
Rachel Lekman is channel marketing manager