YourStory SMB Week: Optimising cost during Covid-19 starts with communicating with your stakeholders

The coronavirus pandemic has created unique situations and entrepreneurs around the world are facing unprecedented dilemmas. The pandemic has changed the entire dynamics of business. While it is certain that the pandemic will eventually end and people will regain normalcy in their lives, what is not sure is what the new ‘normal’ is going to look like.

During YourStory’s ‘SMB week - Converse, Combat, Conquer’, a special, first-of-its-kind WhatsApp chat series, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), industry experts in the technology sphere came forward to discuss how companies can tide over these difficult times and what companies need to do in order to form greater customer engagement.

Keeping your stakeholders engaged

Customers and employees of a company are its important stakeholders. When communication with these two sets of people is aligned, survival for businesses becomes less difficult. Dr. Christopher Richard, MD & Chief Cloud Architect, G7 CR Technologies India Pvt Ltd, highlighted this point in the WhatsApp discussion, adding,

“Planning and prioritising what's important for customers and employees will leave you in good space at all times.”

He also added that during such tough times, uncertainty and ambiguity is something businesses must keep at bay. The solution lies in quick-decision making and swift execution. “It also gives the customer clarity, kills ambiguity and builds confidence,” he said.

Work from home was a distant idea in the past, but today it has saved businesses from collapsing altogether. At a time when social distancing is the new norm, the internet and work from home have literally held the world together.

Video conferencing are some tools to ensure that you are engaged and connected with your stakeholders. Talking of other practices to ensure client engagement, the experts shared some action points.

Aniketh Jain, Managing Director of Cloud, Kaleyra, said timely support and assistance are what keeps customers happy.

Rohan Verma, CEO and Executive Director of MapmyIndia, said, “The key change has been a lot more video calls with our customers.”

Mandeep explained, “We are ensuring that a continuous flow of creatives which are entertaining and engaging to the customers are shared to avoid breaking the flow of communication with them.”

Technology to the rescue

Christopher said Cloud’s Logging as a Service (LaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings are best suited for SMBs.

He said, “They are easy to adopt and give you access to a bunch of productivity, mobility, accessibility and communication tools. For SMBs the solutions need to be simple, secure and cost-effective.”

Christopher summed up all the points when he said that businesses need to have a combination that marries speed with cost-effectiveness in order to help businesses survive and succeed.

He said, “In the current crises, learning curves need to be minimised and you need to work with what your user is familiar with and what he can adopt too quickly.”

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides trusted, cloud-based solutions to meet the business needs of small and medium sized companies around the world. Whether you are running applications that share photos or you’re supporting the critical operations of your business, the AWS cloud provides rapid access to scalable, secure and low cost IT resources. For starting your digital journey you can reach out to us at https://aws.amazon.com/contact-us/