NAMA kicked off its “Listening & Leading: Back to Business” webinar series May 12 with “Restoring your Business,” the first session of the four-part series. About 100 people attended the webinar, in which Linda Furlano, vice president of administration at A.H. Management, and Dick Hanson, of Buffalo Rock, a Pepsi franchise, discussed what operators need to know as they reopen at businesses that are reopening their doors to staff.
The two industry professionals noted the importance of "overcommunication" with customers and employees and keeping touchpoints in micro markets and vending operations clean.
“Some of that frustration about communication is just frustration with the situation [of COVID-19] itself,” Hanson said regarding his experience of having some pushback in response to his company's commitment to having a lot of communication.
Furlano noted that having good communication with all customers is key because each client has had different expectations from their company.
Despite the challenges, both noted their confidence that the industry and the country will pull through the pandemic.
“As long as we’re all diligent, we’ll come out the other side," Furlano said.
365 Retail Markets sponsored the webinar. NAMA will hold the other webinars in this series at 1 p.m. Central Time May 14 (Up and Running: Communicating in the time of COVID-19) and at 1 p.m. on both May 19 and 21 (Employment Legal issues and Risk Mitigation). Learn more about these upcoming webinars here. NAMA has provided checklists for reopening preparation here.