guardian.co.uk
The eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in April 2010 has shaken Europe, closing all airports in Northern Europe and causing huge financial losses in the travel industry. On diverse social media you could read of people stranded around the world – and the terrible service they got from their airlines, travel organizers, etc.: People that went off for work related travel and people forced to prolong or cancel their vacations.
But is Force Majeure really only a bad thing for business? You can either get in despair and start worrying about your losses or look for opportunities within the challenges your company is facing.
Putting aside all the terrible factors related to a Force Majeure situation, it is an excellent opportunity to brand yourself and to improve your competitive situation.
In Force Majeure those who are able to keep the head cold and solve their customers’ problems win.
It sounds simple, but it’s all about building lasting relationship and strengthening loyalty. If you are there for your customers in the bad times they will keep loyal to you in the good times as well. Not rocket science, however numerous corporations failed to service their customers.
If your company is able to help out when people need you the most, they will trust you their money as loyal customers too, they will develop the so desired “deeply felt affection” needed for a successful branding. They would not only turn into loyal customers, but they will tell everybody how well your company handled the situation – you suddenly have an army of loyal ambassadors promoting you for “free”.
In other words… in hard times keep your head cold and help out – Company karma, if you like. How you handle the bad times will come back tenfold – YOU decide if it comes back to bite you or if it comes back to improve your business… Your turn!
