The COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on various sectors while offering opportunities to others. With the view of adjusting to new circumstances and surviving during the recession, organizations need to provide employee safety, streamline workflows, optimize costs, and improve customer experience.
##Since the current outbreak was unexpected, most businesses were unprepared to the crisis:
1. Just 12% of companies are ready for the impact of the coronavirus, in accordance with Gartner’s Business Continuity Survey.
2. 56% of businesses said they feel somewhat prepared while 11% of respondents estimate themselves as relatively or completely unprepared. Just 2% of organizations believe their operations will continue as normal during and after the pandemic (Gartner).
3. 32% of senior executives rarely update their operating model, according to the information provided by Accenture and Oxford Economics in their ongoing Intelligent Operations survey.
##How are different industries struggling with the crisis?
###1. Healthcare
The coronavirus pandemic has introduced multiple challenges in the healthcare industry. Hospitals have to care about a growing number of patients while ensuring the best treatment. Pharmacies need to meet a significantly rising demand for medicines. Healthcare organizations are generating thousands of tests per day.
At the moment, some medical providers are having a 2700% increase in customer queries for support and information, according to the data collected by Innovations in Healthcare, a company that was founded as the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery. As a result, they are receiving thousands of calls and emails every day. These circumstances have forced the healthcare sector to integrate innovative technologies to cope with these issues.
In response to the crisis, healthcare providers should take the following measures:
1. The integration of remote health monitoring and management software should become the highest priority. Working in conjunction with mobile apps, sensors and smart devices can be used for tracking health indicators such as pulse, temperature, blood glucose level, arterial pressure, and heart rate. You can also employ an analytics system that will process large amounts of medical data and provide valuable insights.
2. Integrate an Artificial Intelligence-based chatbot to process numerous requests 24/7. A virtual bot can give answers to frequently asked questions, offer a kind of interpersonal communication, and provide 24/7 customer support. Additionally, it can instantly provide users with the required information, say, on drugs or disease symptoms.
3. Employ audio and video conferencing tools in order to hold online meetings and appointments with patients. In minor cases, these software solutions can replace face-to-face visits.
Use mobile and web applications to easily share personalized treatment plans with patients, view medical data, track health conditions, and quickly answer user questions. This way, doctors and nurses will be able to help a lot more people.
Taking these measures in response to the crisis, you will not only better overcome it but also improve patient care, enhance customer experience, and boost overall efficiency. Explore how to resolve healthcare challenges with innovative technologies.
Download an ultimate guide for business on how to set up a remote workflow and raise productivity.
###2. Food service and retail
Food and retail industries are those that have received new opportunities due to the outbreak. Being in partial or complete isolation, people are buying and ordering goods via their smartphones, laptops, PCs, and tablets. For instance, today mobile apps of retail giants like Shipt, Instacart, and Walmart are witnessing record growth.
However, this presents challenges to businesses that don’t have an online presence. To outrun competitors and succeed in the market, you should automate workflows, digitize operations, and improve customer experience.
If sales have decreased and you are asking yourself “How to overcome the crisis?”, you should create a business continuity plan that contains the following measures:
1.Shift a focus from physical stores and dining areas to e-commerce websites and mobile applications.
2.****Boost an online presence in social networks, communicate with customers, instantly answer their questions, reviews, comments.
3.If you have already had a website or mobile app, make sure it provides the seamless user experience, has a great intuitive design, and is resilient to high loads. If something is wrong, say, user interface design is totally outdated, consider making a redesign of your product.
4.Consider the option of incorporating an AI-enabled chatbot in your site or application. Bots can analyze incoming messages, answer various questions, and send tasks or user queries to the required specialists or departments. This digital solution will allow you to improve customer experience, faster respond to users, and process a lot more requests.
5.If you are not providing services via tech devices, you should reach your clients via a mobile and/or web app. For example, if you are the restaurant’s owner, you can build an online food delivery system.
In case you are a retailer, think about making an e-commerce website. You can create a small solution with the key functionality for a quick start and then gradually scale it.
###3. Construction and real estate
Unlike e-commerce and retail, the construction industry is suffering from the coronavirus outbreak. There are many factors that are negatively influencing the sector.