If your business has been severely shaken by the COVID crisis, there’s the obvious question of how your company can go about its recovery – or sustain a recovery that is already underway.

Here are seven strategies your business could especially benefit from following on its mission to kick-start its productivity, heal itself financially and plan for a bright post-pandemic future.

Work to values your target customers deem crucial

Last year was one of growing consumer awareness and activism – meaning that, these days, your brand should prioritise standing behind great values more than great products.

In extensive research mentioned in a Harvard Business Review article, 16% and 15% of consumers were found to take, respectively, ‘planet-first’ and ‘society-first’ approaches with their purchasing decisions.

Help your customers to help other people

Another revelation of the above-mentioned research was that 25% of the participating customers were ‘health-first’, protecting their health and that of their family by purchasing products they trusted to be safe.

This trend in buying behaviour could naturally be seen as a reaction to the pandemic, which has shown many people willing to help others in a time of crisis.

Reassess what sales channels you use

The COVID era has been one of rapid change – with, for example, many in-person retail offerings giving ground to online equivalents and then somewhat reversing course as lockdowns have been loosened.

However, should you return to every single one of your company’s pre-pandemic sales channels? Why return to the old normal if it turns out that a better normal beckons?

Think about alternatives to in-person meetings

While 2020 and 2021 are naturally likely to have seen your company conducting far fewer face-to-face meetings than before, you could be surprised to learn how easily your business can continue in this vein even in the post-pandemic era.

Harvard Business School expert Gary P Pisano has commented: “I think the productivity benefits could be quite big.”

Make flexible working an option for your employees

As long ago as the early 2010s, research found 75% of study participants reporting increased job satisfaction when flexible working arrangements were on the table.

Even if you are working from home because of COVID, you could still rent a flexible workspace that would give your employees dedicated office space as and when they feel they need it.

Make long-term investments in your business

This advice is especially worth heeding if you work in B2B sales, according to one Entrepreneur article. The article notes that, while the pandemic has prompted the cancellations of numerous things, such as “airline reservations, concert tickets and business conferences”, there is more promise in “bigger-ticket B2B sales”.

Watch out for pent-up demand

There was once a time during the pandemic when ‘back to normal’ seemed hopelessly far away – but, thanks largely to the sooner-than-expected arrival of a COVID vaccine, the world has made significant progress in its recovery from the crisis.

So, if your business sells products, you should - where practically possible - avoid cutting down your product stock levels too drastically.