Telecommuting is increasingly becoming a way of business life.  According to the United States Census Bureau, an estimated 20 to 30 million people work at home at least one day a week. Worldwide, the numbers are even more impressive. The Citrix Workplace of the Future survey found that 24 percent of global companies allow their employees to work at times and locations of their choosing.

What are the benefits of this approach?

For employees, telecommuting eliminates travel costs and provides a better work/life balance. For companies, it lowers employee-related and real estate costs, which can be a major boon to small businesses that may lack the capital and infrastructure to maintain a traditional office environment. Additionally, telecommuting allows businesses to hire from a wider pool of applicants, including disabled and geographically removed workers.

However, working from home also presents a number of unique challenges for both employees and employers. Recently, Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, revoked her company’s longstanding at-home work option, citing her company’s need to improve employee collaboration and communication. In a Forrester survey, Virtual Work Environmens in the Post-Recession Era (PDF), other employers shared Mayer’s concerns, with 49% worried about effective communication with remote employees and 43% concerned about managing projects and deadlines successfully.

What Can Employers Do To Minimize Potential Disadvantages From Telecommuting?

It’s all about the right employees, the right security and the right project tracking business tools.

The Right Employees

Not every employee is cut out to be an at-home worker. Most employees have been conditioned to work in a micromanaged office environment and some may flounder when working independently. Julia Drake, Founder and Director of Julia Drake Public Relations, solved this problem by instating a trial period for all possible hires.

“I spent about six months to a year with them to make sure they possessed the right work ethic and the ability to work independently without a boss breathing down their neck,” Drake said. “It takes ambition, discipline and a passion for what you do. It takes a certain type of person.”

Companies can also have potential employees take personality and behavior tests as part of the application process, such as the one at Affintus. These can help determine if an employee would work better in an office or at-home environment.

The Right Security

The aforementioned Citrix study also found that 83 percent of businesses allow remote employees to use their own devices to access company networks. Additionally, 59 percent of remote workers do not back up company data. This can create a lot of hassle and potential security risks, especially for small businesses that might have fewer security protections in place.

To maintain the security of sensitive and critical data, businesses should develop and enforce security best practices and keep employees informed of possible security threats. Additionally, they should keep track of what devices employees are using and what they are using them for.

The Right Project Tracking Business Tools

Employees often flourish when they are given freedom and flexibility in how and where they work. However, that doesn’t mean that businesses should give up their ability to monitor employee progress. Employers can easily stay in touch with remote employees through email and instant messaging. Company meetings can be conducted through video conferencing.

Employers would also be well advised to implement software to track employee time for individual projects. This software should be fully integrated across remote and in-house workers, so that employers can view their entire workforce at a glance. This will allow managers to effectively manage deadlines and costs for all company projects.

Telecommuting seems to be the way of the future, and it offers many benefits for both employers and employees. But businesses can only enjoy these benefits if they implement certain guidelines and securities. If they fail to do so, businesses risk ending up like Yahoo, having to revoke the telecommuting option years down the line.

Work at Home Photo via Shutterstock

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However, these systems usually claim to be “set it and forget it” type of deals. This can be misleading and can result in unrealistic expectations, as well as flawed implementation strategies.

Fortunately, it is possible to derive a great deal of value from automation systems as long as you understand both their advantages and their limitations.

It’s important to understand which processes can be reliably automated within your company. These can include payroll, billing, cost accounting, IT infrastructure monitoring, internet related marketing, prospect and customer engagement management, competitive intelligence monitoring and many others.  The trick is to determine which processes, if automated, will provide the most value for your company in particular.

One method to determine this value involves carefully tracking employee time to determine if employees are spending large amounts of time on processes that can be easily automated. In cases such as these, implementing an automated system often provides a high return on investment by decreasing time spent on tedious activities while freeing employees to work on other tasks.

Selecting and implementing specific software to meet automation requirements is too broad a topic to cover completely here (that’s where the consultants make their money).

That being said, once you have determined which processes within your business that can be successfully automated, there are a few automation software universal best practices to remember:

Integration Functionality

Make sure that integration functionality is present within the system you choose. Modern business programs should communicate with each other so that you can collect, retrieve and manipulate data however you see fit.

If a program uses a lot of proprietary protocols, then look elsewhere for software that will play nice with others.

Longevity

Another key factor to consider when choosing automation programs is longevity. Niche programs that are new and relatively unproven in a business setting are risky because they may not last long. Therefore, even if the program works as advertised, you could get stuck when an update is needed and the business has gone under.

When it comes to automating key business processes, it is wise to select from high-quality programs that have withstood the test of time. Small businesses often look to Quickbooks, ADP and even Microsoft Dynamics GP to provide the foundation for automation infrastructure. Though these do not fit everyone’s needs perfectly, each deserves a careful look.

Monitor and Update

Finally, keep in mind that even the most advanced automation systems cannot be left to run without regular monitoring and updates. In general, programs should be checked daily to ensure proper functioning so that any issues can be corrected quickly.

If the software program you choose offers a maintenance contract, you’d be wise to invest in it. Automation systems should be reevaluated or updated at least twice a year. Sometimes, a maintenance contract will include automatic software updates, which is a very valuable benefit.

Software changes quickly, necessitating regular maintenance to guarantee a smooth integration with your daily processes. If you discover software is lagging or causing problems even after it’s updated, then you should definitely consider looking for a replacement. The inconvenience of implementing a new automation program is often mitigated by the increased functionality it affords.

Automation programs can significantly impact your company’s bottom line, but it is important not to get overoptimistic. Your car doesn’t drive you to work and your stove doesn’t cook food on its own. Only people can run a business. When software is left to run amok, bad things happen.

Focus on creating a solid implementation and maintenance strategy and you can streamline your processes while increasing your profits.

Easy Way, Hard Way Photo via Shutterstock

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Once the business begins thriving on its own, you need to delegate those responsibilities to other employees so that you can focus on higher-level tasks and because, frankly, you are probably not the best person for every job.

That being said, letting go of key operations can be very difficult for a business owner. Whether you over-manage to make sure people keep doing things “your” way, or to insist on having the final say on every single project, the result will be the same.

If you cannot hand off key operations to qualified employees, you will not be able to grow your business.

Before taking a look at the best way to hand off key roles to employees, it’s important to consider managerial style. Everyone is familiar with Steve Jobs and his desire to maintain creative control over the design of Apple products, and many attribute his success to that keen scrutiny.

That does not mean this style will work for everyone. Similarly, it is not necessary to delegate away every task. If you have a background in creative design, for example, it makes sense to review final projects and offer your critique. Determining just how involved you should be takes a combination of self reflection and analysis based on hard data.

So, when it comes time to delegate to employees, how do you make sure they are going to follow through and improve upon your existing methods?

As is true with most situations in the business world, the best security is to get it in writing. Hiring or promoting an employee without providing clearly-defined goals for their new role is a recipe for disaster. Simply saying “make it better” does not provide the direction needed, and without an achievable goal to work toward, it will be difficult for both you and the employee to determine success.

When you are ready to hand off a key task, sit down with your employee and clearly state your expectations and time frame for goals.

By the way, these goals should always be SMART, and you should never assign more than one or two major milestones or they will never be achieved. If your employee believes that the goals you put forth are not feasible, allow him to explain himself and compromise as necessary.

When you are done, create a document stating what you’ve agreed upon. Of course, this does not guarantee success but it does ensure that everyone is on the same page moving forward. You can also measure productivity as a function of time spent on meeting this goal.

Once you have set expectations, you can determine the value of your input and whether that time would be better spent elsewhere. For instance, if you find that you are taking substantial time to review employees’ work but not making major changes, it’s a good indicator that you can loosen the reigns and step back.

Once an employee has proven that they can handle a process, you should move on to other tasks that make better use of your time.

As a business owner it can be difficult to let someone else take care of your baby, but it is almost always in the business’s best interest to create a team with diverse and useful skills to improve processes.

If you feel you are being marginalized and want to take a more active approach while still delegating responsibilities to qualified staff, consider joining an executive group, such as Vistage, to get ideas for future strategies and expansion planning.

As the owner of your business, only you can ultimately decide where your company goes, and that continued growth and profitability should always be your number one priority.

A boss happy with a team of employees Photo via Shutterstock

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However, it is just as important to go the extra mile for your most valuable customers and reward them for their loyalty and continued business. Don’t just throw gifts at them, though. Not only does a haphazard, untargeted approach decrease the likelihood that your customers will remember or care about your efforts, but you will waste time and money, as well.

In order to take a smart approach to customer appreciation, you first need to measure the profitability of each customer. To get a complete view into the total costs for each customer, all employees should track the time spent on any and all customer activities.

An automated time-tracking system will make it much easier to determine these costs and will give you a vantage viewpoint into your company’s activities. Also consider any value that your customers offer you aside from direct sales. Customers who are willing to go the extra mile by referring new customers, participating in case studies, or otherwise improving your brand can offer a great ROI for you, and that needs to be considered.

Great customer service is always important, but aside from that, the best way to endear your company to a customer is to deeply understand their needs. This may require a time investment, but if you can understand what your customer wants, you can focus your efforts to help them achieve it.

Position your company as an important part of your customers’ future strategies and they will likely pay you back many times over. And you’ll be able to intelligently plot out the appropriate amount of time for each customer since you already determined their overall profitability.

Of course, not every customer will be responsive to your outreach efforts. Even if you have determined that you can devote time to developing a relationship, some customers just aren’t interested in anything beyond your core product. That is fine. Scale back your efforts, but don’t completely cease them. Sometimes, persistence pays off.

Similarly, keep an eye to the future. Companies often change strategy and focus which could present a future opportunity to reengage. Be ready to step up your activities when it’s the right time for them.

The most successful targeted customer outreach programs are mutually beneficial.

We have implemented a deep integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting systems for some of our customers because our software is a flexible add-on to Dynamics. Although we originally implemented this for just one customer, we have been able to capitalize and expand on the success of the original offering.

If it weren’t for a specific instance of customer outreach, we wouldn’t have discovered a profitable market for this business.

Take customer outreach seriously and treat it with as much respect as any other business project. The results can be measured in your bottom line, and you may uncover unexpected benefits that you might have otherwise missed.

Move forward intelligently, with an eye to your costs and capabilities, and the rewards will be substantial.

Customer Outreach Photo via Shutterstock

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“Given the new technology at my fingertips, how do I use these tools to improve customer experience?”

Certainly, there are enough widgets, applications, social buttons, and the like to allow your customers to interact with your business in many ways. However, some businesses make the mistake of throwing everything and the kitchen sink into a site with the intent of forming one amazing community that no one will ever want to leave.

What could possibly go wrong?

For starters, such an approach is unoriginal and represents a failure to look beneath the surface to determine what a customer actually wants from a site. What you get instead is a Web presence that offers too much while catering to too few.

However, it is easy for me to sit here and say you need to revamp the content on your site to perfectly match what your customers want. Obviously, that’s impossible. Interests and tastes are far too varied to choose the perfect image, text, font or content for everyone.

The truth is that you don’t have to have those things. Businesses are in the habit of overloading their customers (and their sites) with fluff. Fluff can be defined as those things that are important to you, but that your customers care little about.

In addition to being uninteresting, fluff is also static. People are looking for dynamic experiences, and human interactions are about as dynamic as it gets. There is a reason people play on social media all day.

One of the best ways to facilitate interaction is to host a blog to initiate the exchange of ideas and comments. When it comes to blogs, the content is the initial draw, but the conversation is what keeps people coming back. Another woefully underused feature is forums. Sure, many sites have them, but I am amazed at the number of businesses that set them up and then never review them.

Obviously, the integration of these contributes to a strong social presence. If you can listen even better than you can talk, you will have a leg up on 90% of the businesses out there.

That’s the key, really. When everyone has a gigantic megaphone to their mouth, the business with an ear to the ground, paying attention to what their customers have to say, will come out on top.

Stop Talking, Listen Photo via Shutterstock

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This is understandable. In many walks of life it can be very useful to fake it ‘til you make it. As a small business this is sometimes the case. You want to engender trust, both from investors and customers, and behaving like a big dog can often do that.

However, this is only a good idea if you can maintain the unique advantages of a small business. One of the most directly useful benefits of dealing with a small business is that, due to the lack of a large corporate bureaucracy, it can often feel like you are dealing with a human being. Sometimes, this is literally the case.

However, even in Web-based or tech-focused industries that don’t usually fall into the “mom-and-pop” category, you can leverage this for a unique advantage.

One of the best examples of this kind of interaction can be found in Saddleback Leather, a purveyor of fine leather goods for business and personal use. I already hear you clamoring about the fact that leather is hardly Web-focused.

Not true in Saddleback’s case: they have no physical store and have built a ravenous community of fans based on personal interactions via their incredibly humorous website, as well as social media and a wonderful customer service team. Their goods are clearly high quality, though very expensive, and I would venture a guess that most of their customers never see their products in person before purchasing them.

That is highly unique, considering that many people will drop over $500 on some of their most popular items without ever holding it in their hands. Why do they do this?

For one thing, through videos on their site, you see the owners talking to people every day. You also get a clear view of who they are, and there is a sense of transparency to the whole operation. From their support of underprivileged children to the occasional post on religious views, whether or not you agree with them, you get the impression that these are just people next door, talking to you like you’re friends.

This transparency also extends to their business practices, and this is the real kicker. Recently Saddleback posted a letter on their site explaining an upcoming price increase.

Rather than simply blame the economy, they took the time to explain the process, and why they are raising prices. Going further, they stated when, specifically, prices would be raised so that customers could buy before the jump. Rather than the usual social outcry, they received messages of understanding (and quite a bit of business, I imagine) by being up front and straight with their customers.

Staying human for as long as possible can be a distinct advantage. Don’t hide behind a corporate wall just for the sake of increasing your legitimacy.

You might find that maintaining some of the human elements of a small business works better for you, even once you find success and strike it big.

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In the beginning we came close to absolute failure a couple of times. It had nothing to do with our product; customers found it delivered on its promised functionality and then some. It also didn’t have to do with our team, or any shoddy internal politics.

The reason I’m telling you this back story is because there’s a lesson to be learned here: we did not have a clear vision of our pipeline and cash flow. We had difficulty predicting how much cash we would have in the bank several weeks in the future. It was a serious problem and, unfortunately, a common one. Perhaps even one you’ve experienced in your company.

It is easy, particularly for small businesses and startups, to focus on the excitement of the here and now. The future is an abstract concept for enterprise-level businesses, until it isn’t. You have to focus on growth from the beginning. Success is not a pipe dream, but paradoxically it can destroy you if you aren’t prepared for it.

We were not the first company to face periods of growth we were not able to handle and we won’t be the last. Fortunately, it is simple to implement a system that allows for intelligent forecasting.

Following are five steps you can take to make sure your business doesn’t face the same problems:

1. Track Projects Individually

Tracking employee time spent on projects is great, but you will reap maximum benefit when you track each project separately. This allows you to view each project as a unique element in company profitability. This insight is incredibly valuable when allocating resources because you will know the parameters for each project relative to the current availability of the company.

2. Monitor Employee Tasks and Changes in Productivity

In any organization, the benefits of knowing what your employees are doing at any given point are obvious: you want them working on tasks that are actually beneficial to the company. But it’s also important to consider which jobs they are most effective at. Implementing a system that allows employees to track time against specific tasks will allow you to see where they are most useful. Odds are that’s what they enjoy doing best. No need to change employee job roles every day, but do consider a change when the evidence suggests that they’ve honed skills in a new area and could be of more use elsewhere.

3. Build a Database of Prior Projects 

Having a backlog of your projects will be incredibly valuable, though it takes some time to build. With this information, you can determine how many people it normally takes to finish a project; improve accuracy of your budgets based on scope; and perfect timelines based on overall project parameters. Even the least efficient projects become valuable because you can glean just as much information from them. You will know what did not work, what factors caused you to go over budget, and learn from the mistakes.

4. Always Know Your Available Resources

A critical piece of any project plan is creating your team. This task is easier when you know exactly who is available (with the skills you need), and what their schedule will be for the duration of the project. If you have an automated project management system, employee schedules are readily apparent and any requests for leave will be noted. You will also know the tasks that other employees are working on so you can avoid stretching resources too thin or allocating an individual to tasks for which they aren’t well suited.

5.  Constantly Monitor Resource Use Relative to Budget and Schedule 

If you compare time and resources spent on a project versus percentage complete, you can see which projects are absorbing too many resources to remain profitable. This allows you to redistribute assets to projects as necessary or even kill projects that are too far gone to benefit your company. It is always better to determine issues early on, and a dynamic tracking system provides that insight. Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses and move on; costs can quickly spiral out of control, causing your situation to worsen.

While it is possible to keep track of these systems using basic business programs (we used Excel and QuickBooks early on), automated, programmable systems will greatly reduce cataloguing time and errors.  Whatever method you choose to use, start ASAP if you haven’t already. Growth should be a cause of excitement, not concern.

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While higher-ups within a company might be tempted to delegate all corporate social media interactions to other staffers, a recent BRANDFog 2012 CEO, Social Media & Leadership Survey determined that 82% of respondents were more likely to trust a business whose top leadership communicated openly via social channels.

Of course, before a company turns anyone loose on social media, there needs to be a corporate strategy and set of best practices in place. It does very little good to simply prop a business leader in front of a Twitter profile and tell him to go at it.

George Colony, of Forrester Research, believes that business leaders (he mentions CEOs directly but this applies to any business leader) should engage in social interactions if they meet the following criteria:

1. The CEO has something valuable and specific to say.

Note that there are two details here: valuable AND specific.

Posts, tweets, whatever, must be unique. This does not mean that the content has to be entirely original. In fact, sharing others’ statuses and retweeting others’ tweets is effective and useful. Rather, it is important to bring a unique perspective to the table, and to make sure that the message will be of direct benefit to readers.

It also means that sweeping statements are not nearly as valuable as detailed, specific advice. It does little good for an investment professional to say, “Be sure to choose the best companies in which to invest your hard earned dollars.”

That much is obvious. However, stating “Industries X, Y, and Z have shown appreciable growth for the past three quarters and, based on statistics, looks like solid investments,” will demonstrate expertise and be valuable for readers that want information on that topic.

 2. The CEO is prepared to navigate thorny and unique restrictions.

Obviously, business leaders are in a unique position since they represent a business at the highest level. Therefore, it is important to exercise a modicum of caution and be prepared for unforeseen circumstances when communicating directly with the public through social channels.

While specific issues are too varied to address, the best piece of advice I can give is to avoid getting mired in any sort of argument on a public social channel. There are always going to be disgruntled customers or individuals who simply have too much time on their hands, and they will enjoy attempting to incite a public reaction from a business leader. If someone is blatantly trying to cause trouble, it is best to just ignore them. If they have a legitimate customer service complaint, then forward it to the appropriate staffer and send them a private message letting them know you are working to resolve the issue.

3. There is an audience who will, over time, tune in to the CEO’s social message.

Out of all of Colony’s criteria, this is the most difficult to recognize and apply immediately. Therefore, it is best to define goals when entering the social realm, and attempt to follow them to the letter. What is the specific reason that you, as a business leader, wish to use a social channel? Whatever it is, find a way to track it so you have actionable metrics that can be viewed in relation to the overall time spent using social media. And no matter if it’s the CEO or the intern or social media, corporate branding and voice should be adhered to so that the interactions don’t take on the personality of the individual instead of the company.

Despite the hype, and the numerous benefits social media can have for a company, one size does not fit all and it may not always make sense to have top executives on social media. As always, if a strategy does not meet its goals, it is important to modify or pivot to something new.

Ultimately, having a top executive act as the face of corporate social media efforts has the potential increase trust and lend validity to social efforts, resulting in direct benefits for a business.

Ceo Photo via Shutterstock

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Leverage “Word of Mouth” 

Word of mouth marketing has long been known as one of the most effective ways to gain loyal customers. It is natural that people will look to their peers and respected companies to determine the most effective business strategies. However, many companies do not want to share information regarding their business tools.

Freemium software is positioned for an advantage here. While businesses frown on the inclusion of a software company’s logo on paid tools, it only makes sense to include it and other credentials in a freemium version.

MailChimp – a company that found great success by going freemium – helps customers design exceptional email campaigns. I recently talked to Ben Chestnut, the CEO of MailChimp, and asked him about the freemium model:

“Freemium is great for publicity.  Some of our competitors will include their logo in the footer of every single email their customers send out.  We’ve always felt uncomfortable doing that, especially with a paying customer.  But if we give it to you for free, then we have a right to share a little bit of the space.  So we put our logo in the footer for all of our free users.”

Offer Clear Upgrade Benefits

Consumers need a good reason to upgrade from a free model, or they simply won’t do it. For this reason, it can be difficult for some companies with freemium offerings to find a balance, because the free version must be good enough to hook users, but not so good that they won’t upgrade.

Some services, like Evernote, have an upgrade path built in that attains greater perceived value as the customer uses the service and gains more benefit from it. Paying to upgrade for more storage doesn’t make sense when a consumer is only using 1/10 of their free storage. When they are near capacity and have integrated the product into their lives, however, the urge to upgrade to a paid model becomes more and more prevalent.

Don’t Increase Price Without Increasing Value

One of the worst things a freemium company can do is arbitrarily impose a cost upon a previously free service. This is not because the service is worthless, but rather because customers have already associated the value of “free” with the software.

Changing that value while not adding any additional benefits will convince customers that a company is attempting to rip them off. While it was not a freemium service, the price hike of Netflix last year caused mass outrage amongst its many users, forever tarnishing what was once a near-flawless reputation.

Customers are smart – unless you are offering software as part of a free trial (and you make that clear), do not charge them for something that was previously free.

The freemium model may not be the perfect answer that some believe it to be, but it should not be dismissed as useless either. Companies with a model that can increase in value over time and offer clear reasons to upgrade may be able to gain more (and more loyal) followers by going the freemium route.

Special Offer Photo via Shutterstock

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Consider the last time you purchased something. Every so often, aesthetics or “wow-factors” play a role in the purchase, but not usually. Most people buy something because they have a need, or job, to be done. No one goes out and buys business software because they like filling in little squares with information; they do so to keep track of where, why and how their business is operating.  They don’t pony up cash for consultants because they are lonely and want someone to talk to; they do so because they require assistance with a problem.

Recognizing the impetus that ultimately draws consumers to your product or service will greatly enhance your marketing and sales success. Instead of focusing on what your product brings to the table, you can focus on the pain points that drive customers to your product. If the marketing for a product speaks directly to a customer need, they are much more likely to buy. This is extremely powerful, and we all know this to be true. For instance, when you see an ad for an accounting program, you don’t care that it was developed with the latest in programming techniques, you just want it to accurately deal with financials and help you run your business more smoothly.

So how do you figure out what needs your product speaks to? If you have been in business for a little while and have delivered a product to the market, try to spark a dialogue and ask customers why they bought the product. If you are new to the market, think about what prompted the creation of the product in the first place (products and services are often born because someone had a problem and found no viable market solution available). Then ask yourself, how often do I have the problems that the product addresses?

Remember this simple truth: consumers buy products to complete jobs that need to be accomplished.

I had the opportunity to speak with Clayton Christensen recently, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and founder of Innosight Institute, a non-profit think tank. We chatted about two of his newest books, Disrupting Class and The Innovator’s Prescription.

“We all have jobs in our lives that we must get done. We reach out and bring products into our lives to get these jobs done,” said Christensen. “Marketing is all about asking, ‘What job is the customer trying to accomplish?’”

By shifting the focus to the job that needs to be completed, a product’s life cycle becomes insignificant. “Most marketers think there’s a concept called a product life cycle. Once you realize that the world is organized by jobs that need to be done, you understand that product life cycles don’t exist.”

Pull out your pencils because here’s your formula: Always test your approach. You could be speaking to the wrong issues. Make sure you focus on the value of your product, not the features. Customers will respond more positively, and it will be much easier to sell. Go forth and sell!

Question Photo via Shutterstock

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