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October 2022 The Contractor’s Advantage
HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
CARVE OUT SOME GOOD TIMES
Stock Up on Memories and Candy
Halloween is slowly creeping around the corner, and my 7-year-old and 10-year-old are absolutely ecstatic to celebrate the spooky holiday. We always look forward to decorating the house for the trick-or-treaters, and either my wife or I will take the kids out around the neighborhood to stock up on candy while the other one stays on door duty to give out candy. Before we take the kids out, we usually start off the night at the kid’s school where they have what’s called a “trunk-or- treat” event! Parents dress up, park their cars in the parking lot, and decorate their trunks in spooky decor, and the kids go by each one to get their candy. The first year we did that — before the pandemic — they also had a pizza and bingo event in the school’s cafeteria. There were hundreds of kids in there, and they played like 15 games of bingo. They even had little prizes for the kids, like mini board games and coloring sets. My kids managed to win three of the games, which was really cool! We happen to have a lot of things going on in our neighborhood during Halloween. Part of the neighborhood actually shuts down two blocks of the street to have a Halloween block party, and that just came back last year since it was canceled in 2020. During the pandemic, people in our neighborhood were coming up with some really interesting ways to get candy to the trick-or-treaters. Everyone in our neighborhood has elevated porches — about 6 feet above the sidewalk — and they were buying PVC pipes and sending the candy down to the kids at the bottom to catch! It definitely was strange to see, but the kids still had fun and were able to get their trick-or-treating in. As for costumes, we’ve done a few family group ones, but I’m happy to dress up in whatever the kids want. A few years ago, we actually all dressed up as various “Charlie Brown” characters! I’m interested to see what the kids decide to dress up as this year, but I have a feeling it’s going to be something related to the Disney movie “Encanto.” It’s a very popular movie right now, and the kids absolutely love it.
Dressing up and spending Halloween with the kids is one of those things that can really make you feel sad as a parent when they don’t want to do it with you anymore. As a parent, we all want our kids to be happy and successful in life, but that essentially includes them relying on you less and spending less time with you. There’s a little twinge in your heart every time something is taken off your plate. It makes me think about my son, who is a very snuggly kid, and he always wants to snuggle with us right before bed. My wife and I usually just want to chill out and relax since we’re tired from our days, and sometimes it can be annoying, but I tell my wife that the reason we say yes to it more often than not is that one day, it will be the last time he asks.
So, when the kids ask us to dress up in crazy costumes with them or snuggle with them before bed, we always say yes because these are the times we may never get back and the memories we’ll cherish forever.
-Jeremy Wyatt
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com | HarrisonLawGroup.com | 1
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GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT Improving Employee Happiness
It can be incredibly difficult to attract and retain talented employees if they’re unhappy
work environments. Once you find the root of your business’s problem, whether it’s one of these reasons or something else you identify, it’s time to make the necessary adjustments. If your employees’ biggest concern is a lack of compensation, benefits, and/or flexibility, figure out where you can add some. You might not have the extra money to give everyone a raise, but if you aren’t offering paid time off, start there. Additionally, you could offer additional performance-based incentives — such as extra vacation days or gift cards — but your main goal should be to increase your employees’ pay annually, even if it’s by a small percentage. You can also add flexibility to employees’ schedules by allowing remote work a few days a week or having a window of time for employees to clock in and out. Nobody wants to work in a toxic environment, and if word gets out that your employees aren’t happy due to company culture, you will find it difficult to attract talented employees. If your employees cite toxicity in the workplace as their biggest concern, then let positive change start with you. Treat your employees with the same respect you’d give a business partner; likewise, your management team should be trained on how to speak meaningfully to employees and provide constructive feedback rather than tearing them down. Always recognize employees for their hard work and offer rewards for a job well done. When you listen to your employees’ concerns, you can make the workplace a better environment for everyone involved. If employees are happy, your entire business gets a boost in productivity.
working for your business. While it might seem impossible to make every single employee happy, there are things you can do to boost overall morale. But first, you need to assess their current morale and figure out where you’re coming up short. The easiest way to start measuring employee happiness and morale is with surveys. Companies such as 15Five, Officevibe, and Culture Amp have online surveys you can give to your employees and gather their opinions on what can be changed and improved upon in your business. Once you know how your employees feel, you can begin implementing different tactics to help improve their happiness. According to CareerPlug, the most common reasons that employees leave their jobs are lack of compensation, benefits, or flexibility; health and safety concerns; and toxic
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IS REMOTE WORK THE FUTURE? ‘The Nowhere Office’ Explores This Idea
WHY DID OLD MOVIE ACTORS TALK LIKE THAT? Understanding the Trans-Atlantic Accent Hobsbawm also tackles the idea of how much employees should be working. She informs business owners that it’s okay to have employees work less, as it can lead to more productivity. She states that “work can and should be not only a source of raw income but also a purposeful life itself.” While your employees need to earn a livable wage, they should also find passion in their work, or they will quickly burn out and feel resentment toward their job. If your business has switched over to a remote or hybrid environment and you’re still trying to figure out how to successfully manage your team, “The Nowhere Office” will help you develop a plan. productivity, and writes that remote or hybrid workplaces can be more flexible for employers and employees alike while still allowing work to be completed on time. But if remote work is the future, what will happen to the workplaces owned by businesses? Are they unnecessary? Not exactly, explains Hobsbawm. She believes that businesses still need physical workspaces, but how they are used will change. They will no longer be a place where employees spend their entire days. Instead, they will be designated for networking, training, and development.
HAVE A Laugh Now that pandemic lockdowns have been lifted, many business owners have attempted to push employees to return to the office full time. Hobsbawm believes that’s the wrong approach, as forcing employees back into an office could kill Think about your current work environment for a second. Is it the same as it was three years ago? Likely not, as the traditional workplace was overhauled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now, many employees across various industries are working remotely. But can work return to the offices full time? Should it? Julia Hobsbawm answers these questions and more in her book “The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future.”
If you’ve ever watched an old movie from the ‘30s or ‘40s, you’ve likely noticed actors like Cary
Grant and Katherine Hepburn speaking with an unusual accent. It sounds very deliberate and almost, but not quite, British. This “trans-Atlantic accent” wasn’t the norm: It was a silver screen phenomenon. So where did it come from?
At the time actors were not used to speaking on camera, and some
struggled with it. Realizing they needed help, many turned to elocution lessons to build their confidence and screen presence. Hollywood loved the accent because it was neutral and crossed class lines, allowing both rich and poor viewers to relate to the characters. The trans-Atlantic accent eventually became a part of film language, but audiences then — unlike now — understood it was an act.
If you want to experience the speaking style, turn to classic movies like “Bringing Up Baby” and “Holiday.”
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com | HarrisonLawGroup.com | 3
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Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
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40 West Chesapeake Avenue, Ste. 600 Towson, MD 21204
Inside This Edition
1. 2.
Celebrating the Spooky Night as a Family
How to Measure and Improve Employee Morale
3.
Become an Expert on Remote Work
Why Old Hollywood Actors Talked Funny
4.
Proven Methods to Become a Better Closer
Here’s a situation you’re probably familiar with: You’ve got a prospective client, and it seems like they’re interested in your product, but no matter what you or your top salespeople say or do, they just won’t commit to the sale. If this sounds like your business, don’t panic! There are ways you can improve your closing skills that you can start doing right now! One of the most tried-and-true methods is the assumptive close. In this tactic, the salesperson proceeds under the assumption that the prospect already wants to buy. They won’t say things like, “Are you ready to buy?” Instead, they focus on saying, “How many of our products would you like to purchase?” Another often successful method is the “puppy dog close.” This is a common tactic that involves offering a free trial or sample of your product to the prospective client in hopes they will fall in love with it and continue with the actual purchase. However, improving your closing skills means nothing if you don’t put legwork into the actual sales process beforehand. When you try to sell to someone with whom you aren’t familiar, even just talking with them can be difficult. So, you need to make an effort to know each customer and their potential PERFECT YOUR ABILITY TO CLOSE SALES
objections. Take some time to figure out who they are and why they’re coming to your business for your products or services. This will help you figure out what objections they may have so that you can develop a plan to combat their doubts. Lastly, know when to give up on a sale. You aren’t going to be able to close with every customer who walks through your door, and that’s okay. When prospects fail to show interest in closing after multiple meetings, it’s time to focus your efforts elsewhere. If you get too caught up in one unlikely prospect, you may miss out on more promising opportunities. If you take the time to learn and train your team on different selling techniques, you will begin to notice an increase in sales before long.
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