Business Meeting Etiquette

            No matter the type of office environment you work in—formal dress or casual, customer or data orientated, there are certain unwritten rules for etiquette and behavior on a daily basis. When you’re in a business meeting however, those standards are raised slightly, more so if it is a meeting with people outside of your workplace than if it’s a meeting among staff members. Here are some things people tend to overlook.

For a meeting with a client, you may want to consider dressing up a little more than you usually do. If your workplace dress code is casual, think about wearing khakis and a polo shirt or for women, a satin blouse. Wear loafers or black sneakers or dressy flats. You never know how dressed up the other company’s people will be—they could be in business suits--so making that extra effort shows your professionalism and respect for their business. You are recognizing the significance of the time they took to meet with you. If your company’s dress code is already very professional, take extra care to be sure your hairstyle is polished, your makeup and accessories are not too over the top, and that your shoes are free of scuff marks. Guys, make sure your collar is neat, your tie is straight, and your fingernails are clean. Little details can go a long way, especially with a person you are meeting for the first time.

Show up on time. If the meeting is in your building, stop what you are working on and get situated in the conference room at least five minutes before the scheduled start time. If you have to leave the office, make sure you have clear directions and account for traffic and parking time. Bring a pen and notebook (or laptop) with you in case you need to take notes. If you are in charge of presenting, test your equipment and open your files ahead of time to ensure everything will work correctly.

Don’t chew gum or eat food or candy during the meeting—it can wait. Drinks are ok as long as you’re careful and quiet with them. (However, if food is served at the meeting, then by all means, feel free to partake). Use the restroom before hand and silence your cell phone. Introduce yourself when the opportunity comes and make eye contact with the person in charge of the meeting. Smile and be cheerful and interested (even if you’re really not). Ask questions and address concerns without interrupting anyone. Be sure to tell them it was nice to meet them before you leave. Keeping all these things in mind may not seem like a big deal, but it can make a huge difference. Make it happen!

© 2012 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Promoting From Within Vs Hiring From Outside

         You may find yourself in a position of growth and change within your business. You want to increase the size of your staff or someone has just announced their resignation and you have an important position to fill. Hiring is always an extensive process, and one of the first decisions you are faced with as the head of a small business is to promote an employee you already have or to hire from the outside. The approach you take on this decision can be different depending on what position you need to fill and how your company is doing. What are some factors to consider that will help you decide?

If you promote someone from within the company, that person has already proven they are valuable or they wouldn’t be there. This can save you the time of countless interviews and the money you would have spent on advertising the position. Promoting an internal candidate can result in a more efficient workflow. Some argue that anyone can “buy” talent, but it takes a truly skilled leader to develop it. Promotions mean that people feel like they are being rewarded for their hard work and in some cases, it may motivate all other employees to work harder so they may be promoted in the future.

 However, hiring an external candidate can bring in a new set of skills that no one in your current staff has. You can avoid the resentment the rest of the employees may have felt towards the person who got the promotion. If they previously worked for a competitor, they could give you good advice on how they got ahead of you or what mistakes the management at the competing company made. You may decide a fresh perspective will give your business the changes that it needs, which can “save” the company. But you will need to take the time to train them on company policies, products, software, and the general way of doing things—internal candidates already know all these things. You can also expect to spend more money (giving them a higher salary) than you would for an internal candidate—the average is 18% more. Even though outside hires get paid more and sometimes have more education and experience, their review scores are often lower than those who get promoted. They are also 61% more likely to get fired from the position than someone who has already been with the company. Also, there will be an adjustment period for the new person and everyone else because they won’t know how to act around this person initially, especially if they are their new boss. Finally, if the company is involved deeply in the community, it may be best to consider someone with connections and knowledge of that community.

The bottom line is no one way is better than the other. There should be a balance between the two and the decision should be made on a case-by-case basis. You can also open up both options for the same position to see what will work out best. Keep making informed decisions. Make it happen!

© 2012 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

Ways to Save Money on Your Business Trip

Business trips are a great way to network with other businesses and if you have the privilege of traveling for your company, congratulations—you have made it. While these trips can be stressful and enjoyable at the same time, budgeting for travel and finding ways to spend less will make things easier for you in the long run.

Be sure to create a customized budget for each trip according to the destination. It’s going to be significantly more expensive to go to Los Angeles than Detroit. Don’t just come up with an arbitrary number; research the place you are going and plan accordingly. You may want to temporarily hire a travel expert to set up a lot of the accommodations for you. There are also business travel plans out there that are packaged in a way that is more affordable than booking everything separately. Use discount travel companies; often you can do everything online.

 Try to book air travel for the middle of the week when the rates are the lowest. Avoid luggage fees by only using a carry on (if possible) or flying with airlines that don’t charge a luggage fee. Save any unused tickets and apply them to future travel.

Consider using alternative transportation while you’re there such as subways and bus systems. If you do need a rental car, ask for one with a full tank of gas and fill it up before you return it—that way you are only paying for the gas you use. Waive the insurance if your personal auto insurance or credit card can cover it as these policies tend to be very expensive and the need to actually use the insurance policy is rare.

You can decide to have lunch with your clients instead of dinner. Lunch menus are generally less expensive than dinner menus and a restaurant that is outside your price range for dinner may be affordable for lunch.  Focus on and plan the leisure part of the trip. You don’t want to be bored to tears when your meetings are over and if you plan activities in advance, you will spend less money. Stay in a hotel with a kitchen and buy ingredients for some of your meals at the grocery store to make them yourself. You can also take advantage of free breakfasts at the hotel. Finally, you should plan business trips as part of your yearly budget so you don’t overlook these costs and wind up in debt. All these tips will make business trips easier to manage and more relaxing. Make it happen!

© 2012 eMarketing 4 Business LLC

The Pros and Cons of Hiring Contracted and Temp Employees

When someone is searching for a job, most of the time, their goal is to obtain a permanent position, part-time or full time. They are looking for security, a place to grow in their skills, and they don’t want to have to worry about being unemployed again. However, there are times when a need for extra help arises and that need may not be long term. Therefore, a company decides to post an opening for a contracted or temporary position. People in search of this type of position may be a newcomer to their career field—college students and recent graduates, people who have had trouble finding work—people who have been fired and unemployed for months, even years, or people with a more undefined set of skills. There are specific characteristics and situations you will be looking for in a temporary or contract employee and there are positive and negative effects for the worker and the company from hiring a temporary employee.

Some reasons for hiring a temporary employee include employee absences, maternity leave, a sudden vacancy, special projects, or a peak in the season. When companies bring on temps, they can adjust more quickly to workload fluctuations. Their temporary status provides flexibility for them and for you: they may have other commitments to work around and you may not need them for eight hours a day, five days a week.

You can also evaluate the employee without making a commitment. You can determine if they are a good fit for your company and study their work performance—if you like what you see and the possibility is there, you can decide to offer them a permanent position. On the other hand, you know exactly how long they will be working for you as a temp and can release them without a lengthy explanation if you don’t see them fitting into your company long term. Temporary employees also save cost because you can offer them a lower pay rate and are not obligated to provide a benefit program and the same goes for independent contractors. With contractors, when there’s not work for them, you don’t need to pay them. When you hire through an agency, they can quickly help you find a qualified person and you can build a relationship with that agency.

With any temporary employee, there will be some need for training because there are skills and procedures specific to your company that they need to learn. Oftentimes, these employees have a lower morale because they don’t feel like an equal part of the team—although they should be treated with the same respect as any of your full-time employees. There are safety issues they must quickly be trained on and if they don’t learn them in time, there is a greater chance for injury. You don’t want to take any legal risks, either—make sure the timeframe and other terms of their employment are set in stone. For contractors, you do need to pay them according the market rate for the type of work they do and classify them correctly for taxes. They have control over whether or not they accept a project from you, making them less reliable. Finally,contractors are allowed to also work for your competitors—if they do great work for you, they’ll do great work for them.

All things considered, you may decide that hiring a temporary employee is just the thing to fit your current company needs. Just remember that most of the time, the benefits for you are the drawbacks for the employee, so make sure they are willing to work with them.

Pick Up the Phone!

What is one of the first things you do when want to schedule an appointment somewhere or set up a meeting with a client? You call them! But have you ever called a business and the phone just kept ringing and ringing? Sometimes there may a prompt to leave a voicemail, but then it goes unreturned or the phone rings 15 times and you just give up. No one likes when this happens to them, so don’t do it to other people. Answer your phone!

Of course, that may not always be possible when you’re in the middle of a meeting or out of the building. But when you’re sitting at your desk typing an email or taking inventory in your stockroom and the phone rings, stop what you’re doing and answer it. Email is chosen as the primary method of contact far too often—people still value direct interaction and often this is a faster and more thorough way to accomplish business. Ignoring phone calls can make people frustrated with you and assume you don’t care to get back to them. It can also lead to missed business opportunities, with customers and with other businesses. Besides, what if that phone call was about a customer wanting to change their appointment? Or what if a supplier had a question about your order, but since you didn’t answer, they just made an assumption and went with it? You wouldn’t want to be unprepared or end up with 50 black polo shirts when you needed 50 white ones.

Breaking the habit of ignoring phone calls will save you time, face, and headache. Do the best you can to pick up the phone as much as possible and return calls as soon as possible. Make it happen.


© 2012 eMarketing 4 Business LLC