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October 2025 The Contractor’s Advantage
HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000 jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com
Protect What You’ve Built THE POWER OF NON-SOLICITATION AGREEMENTS
Lately, I’ve seen the same situation play out again and again, and it’s one of the toughest problems a business can face. A key employee works their way up in your company. They’re smart, driven, and good with people. Over time, you trust them with more responsibility, and they become the point of contact for major clients. You might even be paying them handsomely because you see their work is building your company’s reputation and revenue. Then one day, they decide to leave. That alone wouldn’t be so bad, but they don’t just leave. They go to a competitor. They take your clients with them. Sometimes, they even convince other employees to follow. I’ve seen this happen enough to know how damaging it can be. A business can lose an entire division’s worth of work in one move. The worst part is that it often happens legally. If you don’t have protections in place, you cannot do much once that employee closes the door behind them. That’s why I always push clients to think about non-solicitation agreements. These simple contracts say that when someone leaves your company, they can’t solicit your clients or staff. They’re different from non-compete agreements, which try to block someone from working in your industry entirely. Many states
have made non-competes nearly impossible to enforce, but non-solicitation agreements still hold up — at least for now. And they work. I’ve helped plenty of business owners get out in front of a potential disaster just by having one in place. The goal of non-solicitation agreements is not to stop people from finding new opportunities. I’m not against employees moving on. What I am against is losing the investment you made in someone, only to watch them walk off with your hard-earned client relationships and half your team. A well- drafted non-solicitation agreement makes the boundaries clear and sets expectations long before conflict ever arises. Having an agreement in place also gives you a legal footing to act if things go sideways. These agreements are especially important for high-level employees, like your COOs, executive VPs, or anyone who holds and manages key client relationships. They’re the ones competitors will most likely court, and they could do the most damage if they leave and start making calls. If you suspect someone has violated a non-solicitation agreement, you don’t have to wait months to get in front of a judge. We’ve helped clients obtain temporary restraining orders in just a few days to stop a former employee and their new employer from working with restricted clients. Most of the time, the new company doesn’t even realize an agreement exists. Once they find out, they usually back off because they don’t want the lawsuit either. The main thing is to get these agreements in writing and put them in place early. Ideally, you should present them as part of the hiring process, but they’re not just for new hires. In Maryland and many other states, you can present
them anytime during the employment relationship. Don’t wait until it’s too late, though. If you have people in key roles, now is the time to make sure you’re protected. It doesn’t take much to cover yourself, but it does take a little foresight.
-Jeremy Wyatt
jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com | HarrisonLawGroup.com | 1
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When Customers Speak, Let It Echo
User-Generated Content Can Boost Your Business
Marketing is a difficult beast for any business owner to tame. You have to determine your target audience, explore the best way to appeal to them, stay consistent with your branding, establish campaigns across various media, and so much more. It can get overwhelming quickly, leading many to fall into the trap of diverting most of their attention to marketing efforts while ignoring other business areas. While marketing is challenging,
good reviews. Adding the review as a text accompanying a picture of your product, service, or business will build trust for your brand and entice other potential customers to consider your company an option for their needs. If you don’t have many reviews or testimonials, encourage your current customers to leave some. Offering a small discount or gift in exchange for a review will generate more interest. Create opportunities for interaction. You can’t expect your clients and customers to do all the heavy lifting.
there are strategies to take the pressure off yourself and create new marketing materials without investing in a third-party company or spending hours of your workday exploring new campaign ideas. Social media has allowed businesses to connect with their customers with ease. Most of you already know this, as you’ve created social media accounts for your business hoping to communicate with customers effectively, discover any issues they’re having, and see how they interact with your products or services. You may not have realized that your current customer base may already be creating your next big marketing campaign. All you
You have to create opportunities for them to interact with you and your brand. One of the best ways to do this is by creating polls or asking questions on social media. Not only can this give you valuable information about your business, but it also has the potential to boost your brand awareness. As more people answer a poll, the more visible it becomes, introducing even more potential clients to your business.
Another great way to accumulate user- generated content for your marketing campaigns is to create contests for your customers. Ask them to submit images of them using your product or service or anything else related to your business. Offer a prize to increase participation. Just like that, you’re gaining more brand awareness while stocking up on images you can use for future social media posts or marketing campaigns. Utilizing UGC in your marketing efforts is one of the best ways to connect with your customer base, increase brand awareness, expand your community, and grow your business. UGC doesn’t have to come solely from your customers, either. Your employees can get in on the fun, too, showcasing your business in a different light and proving it’s a great place to work. So, what are you waiting for? Find a way to utilize user-generated content and include it in your marketing efforts!
have to do is capture their posts or messages and turn them into user-generated content (UGC). You can grow your brand and community by sharing genuine user experiences and thoughts. You may wonder where to start if you’ve never used user- generated content. Chances are that you already have the materials you need to put together a quick UGC campaign. Leverage reviews and testimonials. What are your clients saying about your business? Look through your reviews on Google, Yelp, or any other place where people discuss your business. Pick out your favorites and start using them in your marketing efforts. They’ll look great in your newsletter or website, but you can go even further by creating social media posts highlighting
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immediately to ensure they don’t miss out on something that could benefit them.
Testimonials How often have you heard a business owner say their product is the best on the market? Internally, we know anyone involved with a business will say whatever they can to convince us to make a purchase, leading many to disregard this tactic. Instead, you need other sources to state that your business is phenomenal. Encourage your customers to leave reviews and then promote those across your website and marketing efforts. If you can get experts to weigh in, you’ll see an even bigger boost! First Impressions Matter If someone walks into your business for the first time and has a bad experience, they won’t return. Smile and welcome everyone who enters your business, but pay attention to the first thing you say about your product or service. We unconsciously latch on to the first fact we hear about something, regardless of whether it’s true.
This is the anchoring effect. Use it to your advantage by talking highly about your product, service, or business to everyone you meet!
HAVE A Laugh
MUSIC, LOUNGES, AND MIDAIR DANCING THE RISE OF PARTY PLANES Air Canada was all in on the trend. On transatlantic flights between Toronto and Europe, the upper deck of their 747 became a full-on disco. Passengers danced to 8-track tunes beside mirrored walls. You could hit the dance floor even at 35,000 feet. They weren’t the only ones, either. United Airlines turned its upper deck into the “Friendship Room,” while Qantas called theirs the “Captain Cook Lounge.” Singapore Airlines had the “Raffles Lounge,” which came equipped with slumberettes for anyone looking to lie down after an in-flight drink or two. And American Airlines even had a piano in the back of the plane. It wasn’t exactly a grand piano — more of a sturdy Wurlitzer organ — but it gave fliers something to gather around. The goal of these airlines was to create a glamorous experience for passengers. But the good times didn’t last long. By the early 1980s, most airlines had traded disco lights for passenger capacity, and the lounges and passenger bars faded out. People were flying more than ever, but the party plane era quietly ended. Still, it’s fun to look back on this period of air travel when the additional space in bigger planes meant bars, lounges, and music. For a little while, at least, flying came with cocktails, conversation, and maybe even a chance to dance down the aisle.
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
Jeremy Wyatt jwyatt@harrisonlawgroup.com HarrisonLawGroup.com (410) 832-0000
40 West Chesapeake Avenue, Ste. 600 Towson, MD 21204
Inside This Edition
1.
A Simple Way to Prevent a Costly Exit
2.
Your Customers Are Your Best Marketers
3. 4.
Disco at 35,000 Feet
Neuromarketing Tactics You Should Be Using
MARKETING STRATEGIES BACKED BY BRAIN SCIENCE Turn Psychology Into Profit
Figuring out the best way to scale your business can be incredibly challenging. You can invest in marketing efforts, hire the best candidates, and price your products competitively, but you can still come up short on your goals. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could tap directly into your customers’ minds to encourage them to shop with your business? While this might sound like science fiction, neuromarketing is a promising business strategy taking industries by storm.
making, emotional responses, and motivation. By utilizing current psychological research, one can capitalize on how people’s brains function to get them to purchase from their business. Let’s explore a few strategies that could help your business.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Nobody wants to miss out on
the next big thing, whether it’s a life-changing product, theory, or trend. You can take advantage of FOMO by offering time-sensitive promotions and limited-time offers.
Neuromarketing is the process of using neuroscience to market to your customer base. It involves understanding the underlying thought processes influencing consumer decision-
By promoting the idea of scarcity and urgency, you
trigger your clients’ decision- making process, convincing them to buy
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