In closing our three part series on Pandemic Preparedness (Read Part 1 and Part 2 here), the most important point to take away is understanding the importance of running an agile business that’s able to pivot quickly when circumstances arise, and how your website can play a key role in your ability to be agile. In the sales and marketing ecosystem, your website offers one of the most unique opportunities to meet and quickly respond to unexpected situations to ensure your business not only survives, but even thrives.

Let’s take a look now at a few H1 Web Development clients who had website environments that allowed them to respond to the pandemic quickly, and in a way that promoted confidence, commanded respect and ultimately sent the message to their customers that they truly cared which in turn, increased sales, leads and customer trust.

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IMANI COLLECTIVE

Within the first few weeks following the pandemic, our client Imani Collective released an adult and children's face mask product available in different colors. The socially responsible company, who's products are made by and help support women in Kenya and their families, also partnered with non-profit organizations to donate a mask to a family in need each time a mask was purchased on their website. Because Imani was already set up with a customizable e-commerce store and had an established brand based around helping others, it seemed absolutely natural, and even heart warming, for them to start selling face masks in response to the pandemic. A strong online brand paired with a functional website capable of meeting your ever-changing business needs ensures your business can use unexpected or uncertain circumstances to grow, and even help others along the way!

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‍CAGE MARSHALL CONSULTING

Our client, Cage Marshall Consulting is in the business of helping pilots nationwide prepare for job interviews with major airlines. As you can imagine, this service was suddenly completely irrelevant in the wake of the pandemic. In business for over 30 years, Cage Marshall has certainly weathered major economic downturns and unexpected national events that have majorly impacted the business before (think 9/11). As a seasoned pro in business pivots, Cage Marshall also had a strategic e-commerce presence already in place when the pandemic struck. Partnering with the largest national pilot association (ALPA), we worked with Cage Marshall to quickly add a series of virtual, live as well as pre-recorded webinars to their website focused on helping pilots deal with the stress brought on by the pandemic, identify their skillsets outside of flying, and find non-airline jobs. As their website was already designed to promote and sell non-physical products (such as video content), they were able to turn what could've been a disastrous situation for their business into an entirely new revenue stream.

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‍HOLMAN CAPITAL

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Rather than focusing on direct selling, our client Holman Capital took a different approach to pandemic response efforts. Holman Capital specializes in providing financing solutions and private equity to the public sector - so state and local governments are one of their primary client types. Anticipating the catastrophic decline in sales tax revenues, Holman Capital decided to release a series of educational white papers explaining and addressing the pain points municipalities would undoubtedly be facing due to the pandemic. The papers are all available in the Knowledge Hub of his website and available for PDF download. For the first few months after the shutdown, he also added in a pop up when you arrive to the site pushing people to his series of articles about how his Operating Line of Credit could help municipalities weather the economic storm caused by the Coronavirus. Again, the company was already set up with a robust educational section of the website filled with valuable information, so it felt more than natural for Holman Capital to release white papers addressing how his customers would be affected by the crisis and how he could help.

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This pandemic was truly unprecedented in recent history, and has forced organizations to look hard at many aspects of their business. We at H1 Web Development encourage you to make your website one of them, and position it as more than another marketing piece, but as a tool to respond to crises as they arise and - ideally - help drive your business forward during a crisis rather than let it hold you back.

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Please contact us HERE if you'd like more information on how we can help you with your website.