I Owe You

WORK FROM OFFICE

4 ways to get your team prepared for the office

To jog your memory real quick, we all used to do this thing where we'd leave our house, drive 20 or so minutes in one direction, see the same folks every day, then do the same drive in the opposite direction. Go to the office. We'd all go to the office.

But for most of us, it's been a year or so since that’s happened. But with vaccinations rolling out, companies are talking about going back to the office. 

And there's a lot of pressure on the decision. Partly because remote work, well, works! And making the return means a lot more than dusting off a few desks. 

We found that out personally when we opened our new company hub a few months back. And while we had to make all the mistakes ourselves, you don't have to. So, here are the steps we took that made this transition back easier: 

1. Take a team pulse check. Start a team-wide conversation to understand what you need to prioritize for your team to feel safe.
2. Invest in an office overhaul. Add safety measures and find ways to make the office collaborative. Such as creating Zoom-specific rooms or alternating in-office schedules.
3. Communicate your new policies. Schedule consistent updates so team members aren't blindsided. Create a place where everyone can easily find policies, safety measures, and updates (like in Trainual).
4. Deal with the fallout. Meaning, be flexible, direct, and transparent with your employees. And if you can, let people return when they're ready. Not when you're ready.

👉 Love these tips? Click here to share or join the thread. (Thanks in advance!)

SEE YA

How to keep great people from leaving your company

Losing a great employee feels personal. But the reality is even your most reliable team members will someday find one reason or another to leave.

Often, this decision has nothing to do with what you or your company could provide. It was just time for them to move on.

But sometimes, you could've done something better. And learning from those mistakes can save you a bunch of time and money. Especially since someone quitting can cost up to 2x that employee's salary.

But, to keep your best people from quitting, you have to know why they might leave in the first place, like:

1. Lack of challenge. Great employees are usually growth-oriented. So, you should provide development opportunities or big goals for them to hit. That way, they'll feel like they're constantly leveling up. 
2. A culture change. Meaning, your company might've been once a fast-moving start-up. But since you've grown (congrats, BTW), your operations might move slower. To fix this, document the values your company was built on. And praise when your team aligns with those values to reinforce them.
3. Growth opportunities. Here's the reality: high performers are always in demand. So, they're getting offers from other companies. But, if you proactively (and regularly) discuss their career path and make sure they're on track to get that next promotion, they'll be more incentivized to stay on board.

👉 Grab all the tips to retain great talent.

I-O-U

Is buy now, pay later a good strategy for your biz?

Credit cards are sooo 2019. And "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) options are on the rise.

In the first 2 months of 2021, BNPL sales grew 215% in the US compared to last year. And the leading BNPL service provider, Klarna, just hit a whopping valuation of $45B.

BNPL means customers don't need to have the money for a good or service upfront. Instead, they can opt to pay it off in smaller installments with no added interest. So, it's a cheaper option than traditional credit, and it doesn't require a hard credit check. 

But this can leave some businesses wondering why they'd ever offer BNPL if they might not get paid back. 

Per Klarna, companies offering these options see 30% more conversions and 45% more spent per conversion. Meaning, more people will buy from you, and they'll spend more money when they do.

Plus, your BNPL provider takes on the risk. Roughly 40% of people who opted to BNPL in the past 12 months struggle to make their payments. In these cases, you still get paid, and your provider follows up to get what they're owed.

This is part of what the pretty lofty processing fee associated with offering BNPL covers. For example, Klarna charges up to 5.99% per transaction. That's about 3.35% more than what Visa and Mastercard charge.

So, if you're willing to spend more to make more, BNPL is definitely worth a shot. But if you'd rather take in more profit for each sale, old-fashioned credit cards are still a damn-fine choice.

TL;DR

This week's highlight reel

• “Hold my beer, Ever Given.” Yantian, the Chinese port that exports 90% of the world’s electronics, faces backlogs worse than those in the Suez Canal earlier this year. Meaning, global supply chain troubles are likely to continue.
• Google’s gift to SMBs. The search giant just rolled out free tools that make it easier for SMBs to create YouTube ads. Plus, they’re letting some companies showcase their products on Google search for free!
• Reel ‘em in. Instagram is now offering ads on its TikTok copy-cat feature, Reels. And according to the IG team, it’s a more targeted way to reach people than TikTok.
• Ahoy, matey! The first US cruise ship since February 2020 set sail this week, a sign that tourism is ready to roar back after the pandemic.
• Another one? Spotify is now getting in on the “copy Clubhouse” game, with the launch of its voice chat room, Greenroom. But unlike the Club, you don’t need an invite to join.