Crisis Communication
Keep Customers Informed
When Business Changes

An old opening time can become a broken promise overnight. So can an automated email inviting customers to a service you have just suspended. During the disruption of March 2020, the accuracy of everyday business information matters as much as the campaign designed to attract attention.

Customers need to know whether you are operating, what has changed and how to reach someone who can help. A carefully written statement is useful, but it will not solve the problem if your website, social accounts and booking messages each tell a different story.

Treat communication as part of your operating process. The goal is to give people enough reliable information to make their next decision, while leaving room to update that information when circumstances change.

Confirm The Facts Before Choosing The Words

Start with the people responsible for delivering the service. Which locations are operating? Which orders can be fulfilled? Are existing bookings being contacted individually? Who is answering calls, and during which hours?

Create one internal note containing confirmed facts, unresolved questions and the person authorised to approve an update. Include the time it was checked. This helps prevent a well meaning employee from publishing an assumption as a promise.

Keep business instructions separate from health advice. Refer customers to relevant public authorities for official guidance. Your business update should explain your own arrangements without presenting your team as an authority on matters outside its expertise.

Write The Essential Update In Four Parts

A useful notice answers four questions in a predictable order: what changed, when it takes effect, what the customer should do and where the next update will appear.

Here is an illustrative notice for a retailer:

Our showroom is temporarily closed to walk in visits. Existing online orders are still being processed. Customers with collection orders will receive individual pickup instructions before travelling. For an order update, email our customer service team with your order number. This page was reviewed on March 27, 2020, and will be updated when arrangements change.

The notice does not promise a reopening date the business cannot support. It also gives customers a concrete action instead of asking them to “stay tuned” across several channels.

Adapt the wording to confirmed arrangements. A sample is a structure for communicating facts, not permission to offer a service that is unavailable or unsuitable.

Put The Full Answer In One Stable Place

Use a dedicated website page for the complete update. A banner can alert people and link to it. This keeps the short notice readable while providing enough space for order questions, contact details and dated changes.

Make the page easy to reach from the homepage, contact page and relevant service pages. A notice buried in an old social post is difficult for a worried customer to find again.

On March 15, Google announced work to show temporary business closures in Search and Maps and said businesses would soon be able to mark themselves temporarily closed through Google My Business. This illustrates why local listings belong in the communication check, alongside your own website. Google's March 2020 update.

Check what is available in your account before giving your team platform instructions. Features and processing times can change during disruption.

Audit The Messages That Keep Running Without You

The biggest contradiction may be an automated message nobody has opened recently. Review scheduled posts, advertising, booking confirmations, abandoned cart emails, reminder texts and voicemail recordings.

Pay particular attention to claims about immediate availability, delivery dates, events and in person appointments. Pause or revise messages that no longer match your operation. Keep a record of what was paused so it can be reviewed deliberately later.

An imaginary fitness studio might update its homepage while leaving a trial class advertisement active. The advertisement still brings visitors to a booking form, and the confirmation still tells them to arrive at a closed location. Fixing only the homepage leaves most of the customer journey broken.

Contact Affected Customers In A Useful Order

Prioritise people with an immediate decision to make: today's appointments, imminent deliveries and bookings directly affected by the change. Give staff a shared response outline, but let them address individual circumstances accurately.

Record who has been contacted and what was agreed. If several employees share the inbox, assign responsibility for each conversation so customers do not receive conflicting replies or repeated requests for the same information.

Avoid sending an unrelated promotional email to your entire database simply because other businesses are doing it. Ask whether the recipient needs the information and whether your team can handle the responses it will generate.

Show Empathy Through The Details

Empathy does not require several paragraphs of solemn language. It can mean explaining the next step clearly, acknowledging the inconvenience and avoiding a promise your team cannot keep.

Replace “we appreciate your patience during these unprecedented times” with useful specifics when possible: “Our team is responding to order enquiries between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Please include your order number so we can find your request.” Only publish a response commitment that someone owns.

Review images and humour as well as words. A previously harmless scheduled promotion may now feel disconnected from the customer's situation. Give the person reviewing the copy permission to pause questionable creative without waiting for a full campaign meeting.

Build A Review Rhythm That Fits The Situation

During active changes, set a regular check with operations. Confirm the source page, then work through the other touchpoints. Use a simple record: location, current message, owner, time checked and action required.

Track repeated customer questions. If ten people ask the same thing, the information may be missing, hard to find or difficult to understand. Add the answer where those people are likely to look.

Measure success through fewer contradictions, fewer unnecessary journeys and clearer resolution of customer requests. Website traffic alone will not tell you whether the communication is working.

Your next move: follow one customer journey from advertisement to confirmation. Correct every promise that no longer matches what your business can deliver today.

Written for the 2020 archive series. Platform references reflect the assigned period.