Flexible work schedules, Zoom meetings and weekly town halls are just a few of the recent adjustments businesses across Los Angeles have made to communicate with and support their employees in the time of the novel coronavirus.
Business strategies have had to adapt as well. In part one of a two-part series, read how businesses across New York are looking for ways to better serve their customers and employees, especially those impacted by COVID-19. At PatientPop, that meant launching their new product suite, Telehealth, which had an original release date of 2021, in under three weeks.
“The crisis has created a never-before-seen energy, which allowed us to bring a product to market that can help thousands of providers give the care patients need from their doctors,” CTO Christophe Louvion said.
How PaymentCloud’s business strategy shifted in response to COVID-19: “We want to be proactive,” Marketing Director Bronte Mitchell said. “In order to accomplish this, we have a handful of merchant relief initiatives that will hopefully allow us to do our part. Offers such as lowering merchant account fees, switching accounts to seasonal if clients don’t want to close their business but are expecting a dip in sales, and getting business owners set up with chargeback and fraud detection so that they can stay ahead of their disputes have allowed us to keep the businesses that rely on us happy and prepared during this unprecedented time.” In the sales department, teams are shifting focus toward online-only transactions and ways customers can optimize their current accounts.
This whole ordeal has strengthened our team, both internally and externally.”
How newly remote teams are impacted: “Many merchants appreciate that their dedicated account representative is taking the time to reach out and start a conversation about how PaymentCloud can support their business as things are changing.”
How PaymentCloud’s business will be impacted: “I personally believe that this whole ordeal has strengthened our team, both internally and externally. Because we have had to shift gears, we were able to truly evaluate PaymentCloud as a whole. Our merchants now have a firm understanding of our values and vision for the company. Building this rapport with our existing and prospective clientele may not have been executed in the traditional manner, but has turned out to be beneficial for both sides regardless.”
How Allset’s business strategy is responding to COVID-19: Allset launched no-contact pickup options for takeout deliveries. They are offering two months free for restaurants to use their platform, which means every dollar the restaurant makes will go back toward their business. As well, they set up a $4 rescue budget that provides discounts to all diners, which in turn will generate more orders for restaurants.
“We have recently raised $8.25 million in new funding, and it will enable us to help the communities we serve and we’ve already started doing so,” CEO Stas Matviyenko said.
How newly remote teams are impacted: “To keep everyone aligned, we decided that ultimate transparency is the key to team success. We encourage overcommunication right now on every level and suggest online coffee breaks to stay connected on a personal level. To make sure that we are on the same page and to stay in touch with everyone, we scheduled an all-hands meeting with the entire team. We also started to do regular updates on our main Slack channel to keep everyone posted about business news and results in a new reality.”
People are learning to do things online that they used to do offline.”
How AllSet’s business will be impacted: Matviyenko predicts a more digitized world after lockdown ends. “I think pickup will become a new ‘dine-in’ for fast-casual dining. People are learning to do things online that they used to do offline. They are now forced to explore online food ordering options, and most of them will continue using such services after the lockdown because it is safer and more convenient.”
How Your PatientPop’s business strategy is responding: “We provide a practice growth solution to healthcare providers,” CTO Christophe Louvion said. “With COVID-19, patients have been very reluctant to go see their doctors in the office for fear of infection. Our customers immediately asked us to help them figure out how they could continue operating while their patients stay home.”
PatientPop brought its new product suite, Telehealth, to market in under three weeks, including a suite of products that were originally planned for a 2021 rollout. The sped-up launch required company-wide focus, new squads who released code daily and team shifts every few days, as well as new customer feedback channels.
We believe people will want telehealth post-virus.”
How newly remote teams are impacted: PatientPop employees went remote two weeks before Los Angeles issued a stay-at-home order. “While the R&D team has been working remotely for a while, this was a big change across the company. We first set a daily cadence for the executive team to review all aspects of the business, including views of what’s happening with patients through product metrics, customer requests, sales funnel and employee feedback.”
Quarterly all-hands meetings were changed to weekly installments during which leadership promotes full transparency of business financials and the sales pipeline.
How PatientPop’s business will be impacted: “We believe people will want telehealth post-virus: it is so much more convenient for simple afflictions than driving and waiting in the doctor’s office, especially when this is their long-time doctor.
A remote working model has leadership questioning what a future office will look like. They will consider hiring more remote workers, which will expand their talent pool outside of LA.
How Your Super’s business strategy is responding to COVID-19: Free shipping and discounts on the company’s organic superfood powder were offered as customers shifted their focus on essentials. “Our customers are spending more time at home with their families and also may have extra time to focus on their health,” Head of Acquisition Coral Sandoval said.
Their “Healthy Eating At Home” resource guide offers customers tips on how to stock a plant-based pantry, how to wash fruits and veggies, recipes and more. “We are also pitching in to support healthcare workers in keeping them healthy by donating 250,000 Your Super packets. In addition, our customer service team has extended coverage to seven days a week.”
Our customers are spending more time at home with their families and may have extra time to focus on health.”
How newly remote teams are impacted: Team safety and mental and physical health are a priority. “We regularly touch base to ensure lines of communication stay open as we remain super nimble in our plans, often adjusting on a day-to-day basis. We are utilizing new systems like Sococo to stay in touch in an informal way, as we would in the office.”
How Your Super’s business will be impacted: “No one knows for sure how the pandemic will impact their business, especially when they operate globally. What I do know is that we will continue to adapt as a company, both inside and out. Health will likely become a larger emphasis, and we are well-equipped to help improve people’s health with the power of superfoods.”
How Tagger’s business strategy is responding to COVID-19: “We listened to the needs, concerns and insights our clients and readers had about what kind of support would be truly beneficial as we all navigate this new normal,” Felippelli said. “While we’re not changing our product or pricing, what we are changing is our library of free resources.
“At Tagger, we’ve doubled down on newsletter outreach and editorial content, sharing the most relevant and helpful content from our offices around the globe. We’ve launched two new helpful video series that give valuable behind-the-scenes looks at various aspects of the social and influencer marketing industries.”
While we’re not changing our product or pricing, what we are changing is our library of free resources.”
How newly remote teams are impacted: “Communication has been key. Tagger is a SaaS solution with remote offices all over the world, so we were already quite prepared to continue to support our team as well as our clients.
“The biggest challenge has been keeping the team continually engaged as we work apart. We do our utmost to keep morale high with weekly Zoom happy hour check-ins, to celebrate everyone’s wins with the whole team and showing support with care packages.”
How Tagger’s business will be impacted: “With people staying home, they’re consuming more online content, and they’re consequently connecting with their favorite creators more and more. We believe that this is going to make our industry mature even faster and we can already see that marketing dollars are moving even quicker to this segment, away from a regular ad spend.”
Related: Companies Hiring During Coronavirus
