Text Request Talks

3 Post-COVID Business Lessons with Brand J’s Jack Monson

Businesses had to pivot in innovative ways to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s three takeaways that Brand J’s Jack Monson learned from working with franchise leaders who made it during and beyond the pandemic.

This article takes insights from our Text Request Talks podcast with Jack Monson and further distills it into advice specific to texting. Monson is the President of Brand J, as well as the owner and host of Social Geek Radio.

The following tips expand on how to add business texting to your existing strategies to create a stronger and more resilient company.

Watch the full interview on YouTube.

1. Always be forward-thinking.

Monson noticed that the businesses who successfully made it through the COVID-19 pandemic had two things in common. They either:

Already developed a digital platform that they could go fully remote with.
Or they pivoted to find new ways to service their customers beyond their brick and mortar.

His key takeaway from this was that your business always needs something on the back burner for whatever crisis is going to come next.

Business texting is a great tool to have for situations where your business needs to go remote or you can’t be in front of your customers, because people are already more inclined to text than call and you know they’ll see your messages.

Use business texting for things like:

Communicating updates (like business hours, alternative services, etc.)
Coordinating curbside pickups
Keeping in touch with employees
Supplementing in-person interactions with text conversations

Maintaining contact during major world events is vital to staying in business, and text messaging is the perfect tool to consistently reach everyone.

2. Host regular departmental meetings.

Monson plans a big summit toward the end of the year for all of his team to come together and map out what they’re going to tackle in the coming year. It keeps everyone connected and prepped for whatever may come next.

Ongoing training opportunities and internal meetings are easy to share across your entire team with mass texts. Mass texts, like BCC email, give you the power to reach all of your team at once. Any replies become one-on-one conversations that can be used to further develop your employees or answer questions.

This is useful for:

Linking to training and developmental opportunities
Highlighting team members who are performing well
Requesting numbers and reports
Exchanging resources that may help your team close more deals

The more connected, educated, and inspired your team is, the more they’ll be prepared for the next storm you weather together.

3. Be where your customers are.

Monson says that if you're not already back on the road and going to events now that the pandemic is over—you need to be. Building relationships is the cornerstone of staying at the top of your customers’ minds.

Sharing a meal together or having a coffee is how Monson cements relationships with his clients. You can do the same when you send text messages to connect with your customers at events.

A quick message like, “Hey are you at [tradeshow]? I’d love to grab a coffee,” can go a long way at getting you in front of your clients—especially considering your email or voicemail is going to get buried. You can then send a follow-up text after you meet to keep the conversation going.

If there’s anything the COVID-19 pandemic taught us, it’s that we crave face-to-face interactions. Monson says it’s time to start prioritizing them again, so you’re more connected than ever for whatever comes next.