Business Partner Magazine - Issue 49 by Business Partner Magazine

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TABLE OF CONTENTS How Your Business Can Save On Energy Bills

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Sandra Hinshelwood EDITOR

Business Partner Magazine is issued bi-monthly by Sandra Hinshelwood of Effective Website Marketing

How Should You Approach Staff Sickness

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Does a Top-Down Management Structure Still Work

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Tips For Managing Blind Spots In Your Business

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ZeroBounce CEO Liviu Tanase: 5 Ways to Help Your Email Marketing Succeed

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What Are the Characteristics of a Boss Compared to the Characteristics of a Leader

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Aljon Sampaga LAYOUT/DESIGN

Interesting Strategies to Increase Customer Retention Rates

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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to Issue 49 of Business Partner Magazine Whilst we wait to see what actions will be agreed upon by the members of COP26 – the global United Nations summit about climate change – there is much we can do as business owners. Fuel bills and carbon dioxide are hitting record highs, so now is the best time to adopt a corporate-wide energy efficiency strategy. There are lots of little things that we can do to reduce energy consumption. Read our lead article for six simple ideas. As we head to the winter months, we are all susceptible to colds and flu. With covid infections thrown into the mix, staff sickness will likely be high over the coming months. If you want some tips for handling staff absences, check the article on page 5. There are many more great articles to read in this issue, and I hope you will explore them further. But, for the rest of my message, I would love to share the news of our recent award from the Southern Enterprise Awards Hosted by SME News. Effective Website Marketing has won the award for Best SME Marketing Support Blog 2021. I must admit there have been times when I have wondered if anyone will read what I have to say and if anyone will see my blog when there are so many others out there. But the effort has been worth it, and it is heartwarming to see that the content is of both use and interest to you. I want to give thanks to my readers and thanks to SME News for the award and recognition. Until next time, take care. Sandra

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How Your Business Can SAVE ON ENERGY BILLS

ith carbon dioxide emissions and energy bills hitting record highs, now is the best time for your business to adopt a corporatewide energy efficiency strategy. This will not only help save thousands of monies in energy bills but also play a significant role in protecting the environment. There are dozens of ways and strategies you can implement to make your business more energy-efficient without sacrificing much. Here are a some Josco energy saving tips.

Switch To Energy Saving Bulbs (LEDs Or

CFLs)

Compact fluorescent and LED (lightemitting bulbs) are more energy efficient (up to 80%) than the traditional filament incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs, for example, use five times less energy and last much longer than any other type of bulb. Although they might be a little more expensive than the traditional options, energy savings from using the same will be significant and hard to ignore.

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They are also relatively easy to install, hence no need to hire an electrician every time.

Have All Computers Turned Off When Not In Use

Many of us have a habit of leaving the computer ON or leaving it in standby mode. Although you might know this already, the computer will still draw energy even when in sleep or standby mode. Consider turning your computers off, especially when not in use and leaving at the end of the day. Simply turning your household computer OFF can see you save up to $80 worth of energy per year. Imagine how much a business could save from doing this.

Only Use the AC When Necessary

Invest In a Smart Thermostat

of this energy is wasted during the cold season as most people tend to crack their thermostats a bit higher. Investing in a smart thermostat and setting the thermostat a few degrees lower than usual can help improve your business’ energy efficiency.

Encourage Employees To Work Remotely

Allowing your employees to work from home can translate to huge energy savings at the end of the day. This is because they won’t have to use the computers nor lights at work. You might however want to set up a VPN to enable the employees to connect to the work server securely and reliably. Thanks to technology, you can also hold virtual meetings thus not need to meet in the office.

Switch To A More Affordable Energy Supplier

Take time to explore the various energy suppliers around you to see who offers the same package but at a lower and affordable rate. Although this might seem like a big hassle for many, doing so could save you thousands in the long run. There are also plenty of tools, such as Bionic, that can help you find the best business energy deal for your specific needs.

About 60% of your energy consumption goes to hot water and heating bills. Most

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HOW

SHOULD YOU APPROACH STAFF SICKNESS

s businesses emerge from and adjust to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the perfect time to review practices and address issues to maximise productivity and performance.

One of the most important aspects of maintaining high performance is minimising and managing staff absence. In this article, we’ll run through the dangers of having an unhappy or unwell workforce, examine how to deal with absences and explain how workforce management software can help you deal with staff absence.

What are the Effects of Staff Absence? Staff absence can severely disrupt business productivity and profit in several ways. The first of these is obvious: the absent worker cannot do their job so tasks go uncompleted and deadlines are missed.

This has a knock-on effect on other workers who must adjust to cover the extra work of their absent colleague. This can cause delays to other projects, as workers have to take time out to cover the extra work, and can lead to increased costs if these workers are paid overtime. It can also have a negative impact on the overall workplace, as other employees become more likely to suffer from stress and burnout under their increased workloads. Still, there are some positive signs. According to the Office for National Statistics: 14% of sickness absences in 2020 were related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, overall sickness absences actually declined during 2020, reaching 1.8% - their lowest level

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we’ll see below, workforce management software can be a major help here. Once you have the data, you can consider how to resolve the issue. Some level of absence is, of course, unavoidable: illnesses and injuries happen, and it is not the job of employers to prevent their workers ever becoming unwell, even if such a thing were possible. There are some things that can be done, however. Firstly, if workers are going absent due to psychological issues like workplace stress, you can reduce the pressure on them by adjusting the workplace to better suit their needs. Even something like having a cleaner, tidier workplace can significantly boost productivity.

since 1995. This is likely due to the positive effects of more flexible working schemes. These statistics suggest that, while staff absence can be a big problem, it is one that businesses have the tools to deal with, with things like flexible working and working from home contributing to lower absence rates overall.

What Can I Do About Staff Absence? As with many things in business, solving the problem of staff absence first requires understanding it. This means getting clear, reliable data on which employees are absent when and for what reasons - as

Overall, though, you need to develop an absence management policy that works for you. This should include: ● Terms of contractual sick pay and details on when statutory sick pay starts ● Clear provisions on when, how and who employees should notify when they will be absent ● Details on any tracking systems, requirements for doctor’s notes and so on ● Clear return-to-work provisions In addition, you should make sure to include general rules for how to handle disruption when it inevitably occurs. Having clear procedures for how to allocate additional work, for instance, can go a long way to minimising the negative impact of staff absence.

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How Can Workforce Management Software Help? Workforce management software can provide the tools your business needs to assess and respond to staff absence. By gathering data on employee absence, workforce management software provides benefits such as: ● Safeguarding your business by enabling you to better respond to absences ● Helping you identify and understand absence trends ● Allowing managers to target interventions by identifying workers who are frequently absent

Workforce management software helps you achieve these outcomes by providing detailed information on your workers’ presence and performance. This provides a strong basis for developing a workforce absence policy, as it gives you a far clearer vision of how performance and productivity are affected by absence. Staff absence can be a serious problem, but not one that is insurmountable. With the help of workplace management software, businesses can identify issues as they arise and develop robust practices to both reduce absences and deal with them when they occur. At a time when the future of work appears so uncertain, developing these processes could be crucial to your business’ success.

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Does a Top-Down Management Structure Still Work?

here was a time when management structures generally operated from the top down. You would have a managing director / chief executive officer with the ultimate responsibility for company affairs supported by organisational structures that were, for example, team, hierarchical, functional or division based. Everyone had their place in the chain of command and did what was required of them. Job specifications explained your title, what you did and how your role fits into the company structure. Well, times have changed.

benefit from such adaptation. Let’s take a closer look at the job specification example we referred to earlier. The traditional way would be to describe what was required then hire the best person who best fit the job specification. Of course, there’s no need to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater by disposing of job specifications altogether, but it will benefit from a slight modification.

There has been a shift in this dynamic in more recent times through innovative approaches in companies like Google and Tesla. Google encourages their employees to create time to engage in their own interests and proficiencies for roughly 10% of their time, 20% on projects related to the main business but off-budget and 70% focused on the main business, advertising and searching. Tesla promotes the skill acquisition of its employees. Being in the innovation business means that the company can only benefit from the deliberate utilisation of these additional employee skillsets. Times have changed. Leadership styles must reflect these changes, and management systems will

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The modification is creating the job around the individual’s skillset/experience/ qualifications to best support company and personal growth. People bring specific life skills and perspectives that add immense value to their roles, so recruiting such people requires more than a brief conversation about their hobbies. It involves an understanding of how their overall skills can be efficiently utilised and developed. When the employee is empowered and engaged in continuous professional development, their skillsets and expertise facilitate personal and business growth. It’s a win/win. People still buy from people. Online

Online businesses still require the human touch to resolve complaints, package goods for despatch, develop systems or create algorithms. The style of leadership and approach to management should be in sync with your values and business development in these ever-changing times.

REFLECT – APPRAISE – ASSESS Reflect on your skillsets and experiences as a small to a medium-sized business owner. Note what you are getting right. Identify areas for improvement, then develop strategies to remedy these areas. Appraise the functional performances of the person/s you work with. Seek their opinions and respect their feedback regarding everyday matters. One of the popular ways companies shoot themselves in the foot is by ignoring or disregarding the qualified views of the experts on the ground. Assess your business on a national/ international scale to understand the efficiency of your systems/leadership style and management structure. About the Author Malik Muhammad was raised and educated in Jamaica and read law in London. He created The Empowerment Mastery System to influence, help and inspire businesses to cultivate their visions. Malik enjoys vegan cooking and quad biking. He is an after-dinner speaker, event host and convenes empowerment seminars internationally. His latest book COFFEE & CONTEMPLATION: a taste of empowerment is available on Amazon.

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TIPS FOR MANAGING BLIND SPOTS IN YOUR BUSINESS

s your business grows in size and stature, so too will your list of responsibilities. If you fail to understand the breadth of what you are taking on, you could jeopardize your company’s potential. In some circles, the growth of a company can be a curse rather than a blessing. Firm’s that are not prepared for their own success can find themselves buckling under their own weight. After all, it is undoubtedly possible for businesses to expand too fast, so great care is needed. The scale of your business growth may lead to the presence of blind spots in your

company infrastructure. There is no excuse for oversights of any kind. As the leader of the firm, your level of awareness needs to be consistently high, never wavering for an instant. Of course, this might seem like a task that is easier said than done. To help you in your endeavors, we have prepared a few tips for you to contemplate below.

Run an Internal Survey Employees should be able to express their hopes for the company, as well as their concerns. Any internal conflicts will affect their performance and may even

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make them question their position in your employ. Unfortunately, employees could have a range of reasons for wishing to vacate their roles, and they may not share each of them voluntarily. That is why it is essential to run an internal survey to understand better how things are shaping out. Questions to ask here include: ● Are you satisfied with the direction the business is taking? ● Do you feel there are ample opportunities to advance your career internally? ● What would you add to the company’s culture? ● Does the business prioritize your wellbeing, and are you content with the support you receive? ● Would you feel comfortable asking for help when you need it? Allow your workers to partake anonymously. That way, employees may feel more inclined to respond, and you may receive a broader range of answers. Honesty is also crucial, and ironically, people may feel more willing to give you that so long as they do not attach their names to their answers.

Blind spots are far less likely to crop up if you have employed a diverse range of passionate individuals who thrive on communication. Looking for those qualities in the interview stage could make a difference in your firm’s prospects and create a more transparent work culture. Hiring is just the start. These talented workers should also be first in line with promotion, as they will pass down and highlight any potential problems they encounter. Hiring introverted workers waiting to clock out at 5 pm will not get your firm anywhere, so you need to put people on the payroll who will minimize the presence of blind posts wherever possible.

Install Security Testing Software It is not enough to have the latest and greatest software. Even the most efficient systems need to be carefully maintained over time.

Surround Yourself with the Right People

Fortunately, this resource can guide you through vulnerability software testing. Learn all about fuzz testing and how it can help unearth hidden vulnerabilities in your coding and technology. Other testing strategies are also covered, giving you many different tools in your software maintenance arsenal.

The results of your internal survey may not be too positive on occasion. However, honest feedback can help you build a better business.

These days, many companies are built on software. To root out any weak points hackers could exploit can give you peace

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of mind and position your firm for greater success. There is no point in leaving things to chance. Be as proactive as possible here with security testing software. For anyone who is not a technology expert, the process of managing it all can create many swirling headaches. Making use of the expert guidance at your disposal can significantly reduce the stress of overseeing things here. Remember, the answers to your company’s biggest problems are never too far away.

Conduct an Audit In addition to checking software, you should also review your company’s financial procedures. Tracking your spending can reveal much about the character and trajectory of your business. Remember that audits can sometimes present uncomfortable truths, but they must be discovered all of the same. Is your spending sufficient? Can your financial behaviors be improved? Is the cash flow being jeopardized by a reckless employee? Put your business under the most intense scrutiny you can muster, and you should be able to cut back on spending in at least some areas. Make sure to work with expert auditors for

this process too. Browse online reviews or field trusted recommendations from your network. Check all their licensing to ensure you are only dealing with legitimate entities. Ask for references too, where appropriate. After all that, any investigation into your company’s financing will be guaranteed to be thorough and worthwhile.

Be Honest with Yourself Sometimes, your own personal blind spots can also translate to the business environment. For example, if you are a poor communicator, there is a strong chance your behavior will set a precedent in the culture. Reflect on your journey as an entrepreneur. In what ways have you improved, and in which areas can you still better things? Bad leaders can sometimes point their fingers at others in their workforce if things are not working out. However, even in those situations where the blame is justified, you likely hired that person anyway, which would still highlight your poor judgement and hiring practices. Be honest with yourself at every juncture. Understand that firms rarely stay on a constant upward trajectory from

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conception. Setbacks are expected, so learn lessons wherever you can, break down your performance, and map your progress as a businessperson. Are you satisfied with how you deal with clients? Do you wish you were on better terms with your employees?

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Bringing your personal life into alignment with your professional life is also worthwhile. If you are consumed by stress and misery in your free time, your work will surely suffer for it. So seek out all the professional help you need. If you are more present and focused, you can stay on top of any blind spots in your business far more effectively.

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ZEROBOUNCE CEO LIVIU TANASE: 5 Ways to Help Your Email Marketing Succeed

t’s not an accident when an email newsletter is successful. Instead of a shot in the dark, good email marketing is a combination of planning and maintenance. However, when you think of how lucrative email is, you’ll find plenty of motivation to make your email marketing prosperous. To tell us more about what actions can make the difference between a list that soars and one that dwindles, we spoke with Liviu Tanase, founder and CEO of ZeroBounce, an email validation and deliverability service. Let’s see what you can do to make the most of your email list.

GET PERMISSION TO EMAIL We asked Tanase the most critical concept for making a positive impact on email marketing campaigns. “Never buy an email list,” the entrepreneur said, driving home the idea further: “and never, I mean never, add people without asking them.” Although it can be tempting to get into a “the more the merrier” mindset, your focus should be on the quality of contacts and not quantity. According to Liviu: “Nothing will ruin your sender reputation than people who mark you as spam, and that’s precisely what will happen if you add subscribers to your list without permission.”

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want engaged subscribers. Double optin provides an additional step to prove someone is interested in what you send. After filling out a sign-up form, an automatic email is generated along with a unique link. “If the person clicks on the link, it’s clear they want to be there.” However, the email expert warns, “there are bots that can click that link, too.” How do you weed them out while allowing genuine people to subscribe? Email validation is the answer.

VERIFY YOUR CONTACTS REGULARLY DOUBLE OPT-IN IS KEY TO DRIVING ENGAGEMENT Permission is the key to just about every kind of online communication, especially email. Privacy and verifying someone’s intent to receive email newsletters is paramount. “You just can’t have too much permission,” Tanase said. He elaborated: “Double optin is how you get proof someone actually wants your emails as opposed to someone else signing up on their behalf or having minimal interest.” You don’t want lukewarm readers, you

You can have a newsletter that’s of great interest to your readers, but, as Tanase explains: “You have to use a clean list.” Some of you may be asking how you clean an email list. “Email validation and verification is how you remove invalid or harmful addresses from your list.” Over time, email lists can go bad. People will use temporary email addresses just to get a content offer on your platform. Also, they make typos and enter a misspelled contact that will cause your emails to bounce. Tanase goes on to explain: “Sometimes, it’s just a plain case of people changing their email addresses. They ditch their Yahoo address because they want to use another

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service or maybe they get a new job and start using their work email.” No matter why someone abandons an email address, if you keep it on your list, it will cause your email list health to decay. “Eventually, you’re going to be classified as a spammer and your emails will end up in the spam folder,” the founder of ZeroBounce says. So, make sure to validate your contacts a few times a year to avoid bounces and boost your deliverability.

DON’T EMAIL TOO SPORADICALLY IF YOU WANT A LIST THAT SUCCEEDS If you think about the businesses people trust and support, they are the ones that maintain credibility and dependability. “Some people who send out promotional emails, start out with a bang and then seem to lose steam,” Tanase says. “That’s not how you treat a list you care about. You have to nurture it like a garden. You can’t water some seeds and then forget about it, but expect a beautiful garden.” So, send your emails on a schedule, on the same day of the week and ideally, at the same time. “Some companies feel that since they don’t have anything to promote, they can disappear until they want to sell

something.” This doesn’t make you appear like a reputable sender. Furthermore, it will often make the email service providers think you’re a spammer. “Your credibility will suffer if you don’t adhere to some kind of a sending schedule.”

A CONVERSATIONAL TONE CAN GO A LONG WAY A great newsletter feels like it came from someone you know. “The language should be clear, crisp and simple,” Tanase remarks. “Show me an email that’s too wordy or trying to be intellectual and I’ll show you one that hasn’t met its full potential.” Why? “Because people think of it as patronizing, and that’s never how you want your business to be perceived.” Before you send out an email, get feedback from someone you trust. Although you want your emails to be conversational, also keep in mind that you don’t want to be too casual or crude. “The key is knowing your business and your audience,” according to the entrepreneur. “If you run a beach and surf equipment, you’d want to have your emails reflect that. On the other hand, if you run a luxury hotel or restaurant, your tone may need a little formality.”

EFFORT AND STEADFASTNESS PAY OFF

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Just about every company has an email newsletter and most customers have even grown to expect it. People around the world spend a lot of time in their inboxes: the average professional checks their email at least once every 37 minutes.

But the question is: what email newsletters not only endure but thrive? “The two top qualities to guide an email newsletter are effort and steadfastness,” says Liviu Tanase. “There’s nothing that stands out more than a newsletter that’s thrown together. That’s standing out in a bad way. Even when people can’t put a finger on it, they have a bad reaction.” So, think of your email marketing as a marathon. Practice by writing and sending newsletters consistently. Test different styles and approaches. It takes time to get to know your audience and what it likes and expects. Once you hit that sweet spot, show up and strive to deliver on your promise.

MORE ABOUT LIVIU TANASE Liviu Tanase is a serial entrepreneur and a Forbes Next 1000 honoree. He founded ZeroBounce to help companies around the world land more emails in the inbox and improve email ROI. Under Tanase’s leadership, ZeroBounce made the Inc. 5000 list three years in a row and now serves more than 125,000 customers.

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WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A BOSS COMPARED TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEADER?

hile it may seem like the two terms are synonymous, there isn’t just one key difference between a boss and a leader. Many of the characteristics of a leader develop as they develop trust in their team. Everyone who has had at least one job has had a boss. Yet, are all bosses leaders? Probably some, but not all. This article will explore a few questions:

What is a boss?

2. What is a leader? 3. What are the impacts of boss vs. leader personality types on product strategy? 4.

How does a boss become a leader?

Ultimately, the ability to trust their team sets bosses and leaders apart. So, how does that trust manifest in a company’s leadership structure? Why aren’t bosses trusting? Let’s start by exploring the boss mentality.

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BOSSES In the boss vs. leader debate, there are some common characteristics of a boss: ● Ineffective or overwhelming communication with employees ● Inability to delegate ● Inability to see the connection between business success and employee happiness These symptoms stem from a larger problem: bosses’ inability to trust their employees with tasks. If bosses resign themselves to the idea that their employees can’t do anything right, they’ll either communicate sparingly (a result of apathy) or overwhelm their employees with correspondence (a result of micromanaging and anxiety). Similarly, if bosses aren’t confident in their employees’ abilities, they won’t delegate any tasks, burning themselves out by trying to do every task themselves. In return, that lack of trust will ultimately harm employee happiness since it will also usually result in a lack of praise or recognition.

LEADERS Alternatively, leaders trust their employees enough to:

● Assign them tasks that match their skill level ● Praise or recognize them for excellent work ● Advocate for employee advancement and leadership training Great leaders usually lead by example. If leaders effectively train their employees to perform correct procedures, they can trust their well-trained employees to embody their commitment to the business. Leaders offer praise (and constructive criticism) genuinely and often. Employees with higher confidence do better work which, in turn, makes employees more trustworthy and experienced. Leaders are also happy to pass the torch as a business evolves. A leader should both expect and help their employees advance and succeed, knowing that their employees’ success reflects their training, supervision, and leadership.

BOSS VS. LEADER: APPROACH TO PRODUCT STRATEGY When approaching leaders:

product

strategy,

● Engage their employees in the strategy development process ● Ask for feedback and suggestions from the entire company hierarchy

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● Credit their employees’ contribution to the resulting product strategies There are various types of product strategies, and leaders will be able to recognize their employees’ potential past experiences with product strategy development. Where bosses may be threatened that their employees will make them look bad by providing a higher quantity or a better quality of ideas than they do, leaders will embrace and encourage employees to draw on their past experiences to create a successful strategy.

LEADERS VS. BOSSES: FINAL THOUGHTS Becoming a leader is a skill that can take some time to fine tune. By implementing a product strategy, finding your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and helping each member highlight their attributes, you can develop a trust in your team that can help transform you from a boss to a leader.

HOW DO BOSSES BECOME LEADERS? When bosses see that they may fall more to the latter side of the leader vs. boss continuum, they’re not a lost cause. Bosses can try the following measures to become better leaders: ● Ask employees for honest feedback about how their leadership style can improve ● Integrate more delegation into their day-to-day procedures ● Improve their initial training to build more confidence and trust in new employees

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INTERESTING STRATEGIES

TO INCREASE CUSTOMER RETENTION RATES

n business, it costs more to consistently bring in new customers, than it does to maintain your current ones. However, the road to earning a client’s trust and their repeat custom is a long and complicated one, so it’s hardly surprising that businesses in their infancy are more interested in growing their client base than nurturing it. Believe it or not, you don’t have to invest vast numbers of resources into increasing your retention rates and earning the trust and loyalty of your customers. And when your customer retention rate is healthy, it makes other aspects of your business much more cost-effective. In this post, we’ll explore some interesting strategies that

that can help increase your customer retention rates. Read on to find out more.

UPDATE YOUR INVOICING PROCESS How are you currently handling your payment process? It’s easy to think that once you’re requesting payment from your clients, that the battle has already been won. But in reality, it’s far from over! The payments process is the perfect opportunity to highlight your professionalism and how much you value your client’s custom. By using invoice templates like these ones from FreshBooks, you can create fully

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customisable, professional looking invoices that are not only accurate but sent out automatically. With this software you can create invoices in minutes, helping you get paid faster and reminding your customers how much you value them. Customers want to feel wanted and appreciated and something as simple as updating your invoicing process can tick all the retention boxes.

REWARD YOUR CUSTOMERS Your competitor’s website and services are only a click away, so it makes sense to nurture and reward your customers for choosing you over them. It also means they’re less likely to jump ship at a better offer. Rewarding the loyalty of your customers can take many forms, from discount codes and money off, bonuses and surprises in their orders or even creating a loyalty package for those who have been with you for more than six months. The possibilities are endless and the rewards, plentiful.

WORK ON YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE Whether you’re in charge of customer service or you have a team of employees at the helm, persistently focusing on your customer service can go a long way towards customer satisfaction and loyalty.

When clients feel dissatisfied with your services, they won’t think twice about looking elsewhere. By looking at your KPIs you can see elements of your business that your customers think are lacking and which ones satisfy them the most. Here you can make changes and ensure you’re perfectly in sync with their needs.

COMMUNICATE REGULARLY Customers think long and hard about who they want to hand their hard-earned cash to, which means taking their money and severing all contact afterwards can leave a bad taste in their mouth. On the other hand, suppose you want to work on your customer loyalty and retention. In that case, setting up communication benchmarks can help remind customers that you’re there and that you value their contribution to your business. Keeping in touch is crucial!

FINAL THOUGHTS… Working on customer retention doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. Simply putting the needs of your clients first can go a long way to pushing your success forward.

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