Believe it or not, there are employers who would say “Not my problem. I’m paying you to be productive at work so leave your personal issues at home.” I know because I’ve heard them say it. However there is an increasing call for work/life balance, and employees are seeking employers that offer understanding and empathy when life throws curveballs that spill over into work. According to a study by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) among more than 50,000 workers, work/life balance ranks as one of the most important workplace attributes – second only to compensation. The research also showed that employees who feel they have work/life balance tend to work 21% harder than those who don’t. There is a misconception that work/life balance requires a huge investment, such as providing an on-site gym or day care program, but the truth is, people’s needs for balance can be met quite simply. As a small business owner, don’t be discouraged. You can be an employer who looks after his/her employees effectively without a great deal of cost, and the results are good for your business. Here are some ideas.

Provide time off. Let’s say Tanya’s wage is $17/hour. If you gave her one day off to spend some concentrated time on getting her head around her son’s needs, it would cost you $136.00. Two days would cost you $272.00. These are not out-of-pocket expenses, as you’d be paying that wage anyway, and with some support from your team you can cover the workload for that brief period of time. That investment would show Tanya that you care about her and want to help her get back to her productive self. The impact on Tanya would be huge sense of relief at getting some help to manage her situation, and loyalty to you as an employer for understanding her plight. She will come back working harder for you than she did before. Similarly, providing an hour off per week for a month or two to someone who needs counseling costs you very little, but results in a healthier, more productive employee.

Be empathetic. People are not machines and work and life cannot be separated very easily when they face major life challenges. A spouse dealing with cancer, a messy divorce, challenges with children, family illness, or financial stress will impact a person’s performance at work. Perhaps you can offer flexible hours to accommodate outside appointments, or reduce job tasks for a certain period of time to lessen the load. The CEB study indicated that 60% of employees indicated flexible schedules as the most important work/life practice of their employer. Your understanding and flexibility in helping them get back on their feet will be greatly appreciated and in the end, will benefit your business with the return of valued employees.

Provide financial help if you can. If you do not have an insurance program with an Employee Assistance component for your employees and you can afford it, paying or assisting with partial payment for counseling can be a great way to assure your employees of your support and get them back to work more quickly. Consider the cost of splitting a $100 per week counseling bill for six sessions ($300) versus the cost of an unproductive employee for those six weeks and beyond. Look at it this way, their personal issue isn’t going to go away, so you’ve really only got three choices. Continue on with an unproductive employee (to the detriment of your business bottom line), fire the employee (after which you’ll incur the high cost of turnover in hiring and training someone else), or facilitating their return to wellness. Seems to me the $300 is well worth it compared to the cost of the other two options.

Stay connected. Check in with your employee to see how things are going. You’re not imposing on them to give you specifics about their personal issues, but you do want to know if they think they are making progress in order to facilitate a full return to work plan. Checking in periodically provides a human connection and that contributes to their desire to get back to work. Encourage them to be honest with you about how they feel regarding their workload. Chances are, your empathy and willingness to work with them will mean a committed, hardworking employee.

The CEB study also indicated that ironically, many employees end up not actually using the work/life adjustments offered by their employers. They just need to be reassured that they have options when faced with life challenges. In other words, “the option value of work/life balance is more important at improving employee effort than the actual consumption of those same practices.” (The Increasing Call for Work-Life Balance, the Corporate Executive Board). Doesn’t it just make smart business sense to be that kind of employer? Rather than being a business owner who looks with disdain at how much this is going to cost, consider the costs of losing valued employees, or employees working at less than peak capacity. Then consider the value of the loyalty of those employees you’ve been willing to see through their challenges. You may find it surprisingly cost-effective!

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1. Set a budget – one of the biggest mistakes HBB owners make is not determining ahead of time how much they are willing and able to spend on their marketing. If you don’t have a budget, you’ll be reluctant to spend anything, and you won’t have a way to measure the effectiveness of your marketing dollars. Marketing is as important to your business as the product or service you provide. Without it, how will people know you exist? Look at your budget carefully and assign an amount you’re comfortable with – or perhaps one that stretches you slightly. Then you’ll be able to feel positive about spending those dollars as part of your business growth plan.
2. Do your homework – another mistake to avoid is jumping into one method of marketing without doing the research to determine which methods are right for you. This will depend on your target audience. If your primary market is under 30, you may need to seriously look at social networking ideas, since that’s where that demographic spends most of its time. You may be wasting your money printing fancy brochures when a free Twitter account could accomplish much more. The point is, your intended market should drive your marketing methods. Do the research. Do the math. Talk to people in your market demographic and ask them how they make their buying decisions. Investing any money in marketing without this step is setting you up for failure in your marketing efforts, and wasting your hard-earned money.
3. Create a plan – you need a methodical approach to how your marketing is going to unfold. Throwing money here and there and dabbling in different methods without a systematic plan will not be successful. Even if you do achieve some level of success, you won’t know how to reproduce it because you won’t know how you created it.
4. Create a monitoring process – part of your plan should include a method of gathering data so that you can evaluate what worked and what didn’t. Perhaps it’s asking every client or customer how they heard about you, measuring hits on your website or followers on your blog or Twitter. Whatever your plan, make it measurable so you know which marketing dollars achieved your purpose. It is trial and error initially, but as you gather information you’ll be able to make more informed decisions and direct your marketing dollars to the areas that are giving you the best results.
5. Re-evaluate your plan regularly – if, six months into your plan you realize that a method you thought was going to bring you good results is not, and another that you had not anticipated, is – revise your plan. Also, something that worked really well last year, won’t necessarily work again this year. Do an analysis at least once a year of the economic conditions, consumer trends, new competitors that have entered the market, and feedback from your customers to determine where you should go in the future. Make your plan flexible so that you can respond to sudden market changes. This will keep you one step ahead of your competitors.

Marketing is never static. It will change probably more than anything else in your business. If you want your home-based business to succeed you will need a plan to chart your course, a way to measure your success, and an ability to adjust the sails when the winds change.

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Your voice is your customer’s connection with your business. The impression you make and how they feel after talking to you may determine whether they want to do business with you. It may seem basic to be writing about something so simple – something we do a hundred times a day – but many of us don’t realize how distracted we get by our tasks and how it affects the way we sound on the phone. Maybe you are always 100% pleasant and welcoming on the phone, but your staff could use a refresher course on customer service. Here are some things to help you ensure your customers feel valued and important on the other end of the phone.

Smile when you talk. You may feel silly but you’d be surprised what a difference it makes to the other person on the phone. Try this little exercise with your employees. Turn away from them so they can’t see your face. Say the normal greeting you use when answering the phone. Then say it again a second time, only smile when you are saying it. Ask them if they could tell the difference. My bet is they will. It’s a small thing that can make a big difference.

Revisit your greeting. Have you ever phoned a company and it takes 30 seconds for them to get through their greeting? “Good morning, thank you for calling ABC Darts and Supplies Company Ltd, this is Joan Jetson speaking, how may I direct your call today?” People are busy. Think about what the person phoning you needs to know – mostly they just need to know they’ve contacted the right company. Giving a name may be appropriate, although a first name only is necessary unless there are two people with the same name in the company. I think most of us assume whoever answers is going to direct our call to the right place, so how about simply, “Good morning, ABC Darts and Supplies, this is Joan speaking.” People will tell you what they want, who they want to speak to or why they are calling. You’ll have to work out what’s most important to your business but the key is to keep it as brief and simple as possible.

Take a deep breath or two. Especially if you are deeply involved in a project or task and feel frustrated at the interruption. It happens to all of us, but few people can hide the frustration in their voice. So before you pick it up, take a deep breath to transition from your task to the person at the other end of the phone. This allows your voice to be relaxed and the other person won’t sense that you felt their call was an interruption.

Give the caller your undivided attention. This is especially difficult if you are a multi-tasker or if you are feeling pressured by the job at hand and annoyed at the interruption. Have you ever tried talking to someone when you can hear them typing on the other end of the phone? It doesn’t feel very good. The message is that your call isn’t important enough for them to stop what they are doing. When you pick up the phone – STOP whatever else you are doing. Stop typing, stop writing, stop drawing – your distraction with your task will come through to the caller. Listen attentively so that you can address the reason for the call quickly and professionally.

Take uninterrupted time if you need it. It’s better for you to tell your staff you don’t want to take calls for the next hour because you’re working on a high-concentration project than to be frustrated every time the phone rings. You’ll give more quality attention to your project and your customers will benefit from receiving a call from you later when you can give them your full attention. Encourage your staff to do the same. The world will not come to an end if a call has to go to voicemail once in a while.

Maintain a customer service perspective. This may be the 50th time you’ve picked up the phone today, but it is your customer’s first (and possibly only) call to your business. Whatever they are calling about is important to them, and if you want to make them feel that they are important to your business, pretend they are the only phone call you need to take today. Leave a good impression. Just like an audience remembers the last thing a speaker says the most, your customers will get off the phone with you with an impression about your business, and how you end the phone call does leave an impression. Try ending the conversation with “Thanks so much for your call today.” or "It was great talking with you John." It leaves your customer feeling that they were important to you, and that feeling will influence their buying decision. I recently heard someone say “People don’t remember what you’ve said to them, they remember how you made them feel.” Think about your own experiences and you’ll probably find this to be true.

With so many businesses employing computerized voice systems, people do love to get a live voice on the other end of the phone. Make the most of this tool and you’ll find it is a great way to market your business. It’s all about impressions, and the ones you make on your customers influence their decisions about doing business with you.

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