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Letter From The Editor

Dear Friends,

The New Year has come and gone, and I find it very interesting to watch people to see how they handle getting their New Year off to a great start. We all have great intentions and make at least one resolution, even if we aren’t willing to tell anyone what it is!

If you haven’t lived up to your New Year’s Resolution, I’d like you to take a look at why, even taking it a step further and checking out who you are around the other commitments you make. Do you give up easily? Are you your word? Is your integrity in place?

In the end, whether you’ve made a secret New Year’s Resolution, told your child you were going to coach their team, made a promise to your spouse for quiet time away, or given your word to make 2006 your most productive year ever, you made a commitment – you gave your word – and I simply want you to stay present to the commitments you make. And when you find yourself wavering on anything, even the things you consider to be no big deal, I ask that you stop yourself, check out who you are being, ask for the help you need, and get back on track! Integrity really does mean something.

Best regards,

Clay S. Nelson

When Your Team Gets Sick

The cold and flu season is tough not only on the people who come down with a bug, but also on the companies that employ them, as well as those that work with them. The “tough” is two-fold. 1) When workers are out sick, especially in a small business, other employees have to take up the slack. The company simply can’t afford to have that person’s job duties go idle for a day, let alone several days. 2) When workers come to work sick, especially in a small office, their germs are going to spread. So as you can see, it is a bit of a Catch 22.

Small businesses can’t afford to have workers gone, but if they come to work sick, they are risking infecting the rest of the office. If others in the business get sick, the problem just multiplies! So to help keep your team healthy during the cold and flu season:

1. Keep your staff present to the need for good hygiene – post signs and even mention it during your staff meetings. Remind people to wash their hands frequently and use their own personal coffee cup.
2. If a worker shows up sick to work, you have to gauge how sick they are. If they are feverish, sick to their stomach, and generally flu-ish, common sense dictates that they should be sent home.
3. If a worker has a common-cold whose symptoms are controlled with over the counter medications and they are present to the need to be especially cautious about germ spreading, let them stay. If we allowed a common cold to keep everyone home for its duration, we’d have people gone all the time!

Being sick is no fun for anyone, and missing days of work often compounds the issue. But when a member of your team is sick and only half at work mentally, what good does their being there really do? So, whenever possible encourage your team to give their bodies the rest they need when the cold and flu strike. Doing so will allow them to get over their illness, and return to work 100%, sooner rather than later!

Befriending a Customer: Should You Cross the Line?

Befriending of a customer is a very natural occurrence, and why shouldn’t it be? Often times our customers become our customers because there is a mutual respect and general liking of each other as humanbeings. The only time this causes a problem is when there is no clear line of demarcation between the friendship and the business relationship. So, how does one set such boundaries?

Only you can determine what is best for you and your business. However, when determining what your friendship/business boundaries are going to be, you should consider the following:

1. You don’t ever want to allow your friendship with a customer to negatively affect your accounts payable. Make sure your customer (& friend) is big enough to understand that business is business, and truthfully, not everyone can handle that. Your business policies need to apply to all clients, and you don’t want to find yourself in the habit of making exceptions for your friends. So don’t even start.
2. Don’t allow business discussions to take place during a social event, gathering, or fishing trip. This can be tough because with our work-work-work mentalities, business is often a normal part of our social discussions. So let common sense rule this issue. For instance as a supplier, you don’t want to inquire about an unpaid bill during a dinner party. As a customer, you don’t want to inform your supplier (and friend) during your weekly bowling match that he was outbid. Save these discussions for 8 to 5, Monday thru Friday, and your business and friendship will be much better off.
3. When you have a life-long friend who you have grown up with, or a college roommate who you spent a great deal of time with, you naturally learn who they are, their likes and dislikes, their beliefs around relationships, religion, politics, family, and everything in between. However, when you are cultivating a friendship with a customer, you need to introduce those parts of you gradually and feel out the acceptance level. Now this isn’t about withholding information. It is about protecting the business side of your relationship.

Ultimately, you have to determine who is capable of crossing the line from client, to client & friend and respecting the boundaries you determine. You have to decide: Who has the sense to know when to say what to whom and when not to say what to whom? Who is big enough to handle who you are as an individual, and the circumstances that will come up in your personal life, and not allow those things to get in the way of your business relationship? And YOU have to be big enough to forgive your customer/friend when a boundary is accidentally breeched, communicate what should be done in a similar situation in the future, and move on.

Sure it does seem complicated. But not only is it possible to befriend a customer, it is probable! So why not plan for it? Know what your boundaries are from the start and communicate them to those you are befriending. In the end, you will save yourself (and your client/friend) a great deal of difficulty and your friendship will get off to a much better and powerful start.

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