MultiBriefs - Your source for industry specific News Briefs

Customer communication guides small business reopenings amid COVID-19

Kevin Reynolds Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Brett Evje, a restaurant owner in Montana, has a mantra: "Business is a two-way street." It wasn't a particularly groundbreaking statement before March. The relationship between customer and business was never something in question in the world before the coronavirus pandemic. Now, however, the simple phrase has taken on a greater measure of complexity. How businesses make the decision to open or remain closed is largely dependent on that customer-to-business relationship.

How employers are helping employees reduce student loan debt

Grace Ferguson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

U.S. student loan debt reached a record $1.6 trillion in 2020, according to an article in Forbes. This accounts for 45 million borrowers, making student loan debt the second highest consumer debt in the U.S. — topped only by mortgage debt. Employers are taking notice. To attract and retain talented workers, a small but growing number of employers are offering student loan repayment plans (SLRPs).

What CEOs and other executives need to know about disability insurance

Colin Nabity Business Management, Services & Risk Management

As a CEO or senior executive, you have reached the pinnacle of your profession. That success comes with significant responsibility and compensation. Are you prepared for the possibility that an injury or illness could prevent you from fulfilling your duties? Can you and your family withstand losing some or all of your income in the event you can’t work? Here are some other questions CEOs and other high-income earners should ask as they consider the need for disability insurance.

What makes a difficult conversation difficult?

Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Why are some conversations difficult? People enter almost every conversation with certain expectations and opinions. Those expectations are based on the relationship between the people and the circumstances surrounding the conversation. When it feels like those expectations or positions are being challenged, human nature often reacts initially with emotion. For example, when a co-worker with a smile on her face after a holiday weekend approaches you and asks you about your weekend, you expect a pleasant conversation. Conversely, if you made a sizable mistake and your boss asks to meet with you, you enter the discussion with a degree of apprehension.

Rare-earth elements spark resource war

Dave G. Houser Natural Resources

Rare-earth elements (REE) — also known as rare-earth minerals or rare-earth metals — are a group of 17 chemical elements of the periodic table. Although most of them are not terribly rare, they are highly strategic substances and vital components in most of the technology we employ every day. What is rare are deposits of these minerals in high enough concentrations to be feasibly and economically extracted. Presently, about 90% of the global supply of rare-earth elements comes from just one country: China.

In-app messaging: A great strategy to boost business during the age of…

Lisa Mulcahy Marketing

As a marketer, you want to provide your customers and clients ease and agility when it comes to purchasing products and services from your brand during the COVID-19 crisis. In-app messaging is an ideal tool to help you achieve this. Depending on your current products and services, you can use in-app messaging to pull new customers into your base, answer customer service questions, launch products, or make easier use of your products and services — the sky is truly the limit. Here are some key areas you can start with.

‘Travel, as we knew it, is over,’ but hopes remain for a different…

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky talked about the future of travel in a recent CNBC interview. He stated: "Travel, as we knew it, is over. It doesn’t mean travel is over, just the travel we knew is over, and it’s never coming back. It’s just not." His statement made headlines, but he also suggested in the same interview: "… travel is going to come back. It’s just going to take a lot longer than, you know, we would have thought, and it’s going to be different."

Elements of a recovery plan

William D. Pawlucy Association Management

In our first article, "The metrics guiding nonprofit recovery," we took a broad look at five key economic indicators to take action on. As a follow-up to the first article, we will now discuss the elements of a recovery plan. In order to plan properly, your organization needs data, your leaders to guide the conversations, stakeholders to inform the process, and a plan to address external urgencies. Use this as a short-term supplement and driver for change of your current long-term plan.

Does your business feel irrelevant? Here’s what you can do

Victoria Fann Business Management, Services & Risk Management

There are periods in a business owner's life when the products being sold or the services being offered grow stale and cease to feel relevant. Sometimes this can happen with the overall mission of a business. The tides turn. Interests change. Passion wanes. What's popular and trendy loses steam. It can feel daunting to even consider small changes, let alone do a major pivot. Perhaps staying relevant doesn't require reinventing your business. Maybe it’s more straightforward than that.

Steps to take to save sponsorships

Robert C. Harris Association Management

Associations have postponed or canceled many events during these challenging times. Lost sponsorships represent significant income as a percentage of events and the overall budget. Take these steps to save sponsor relationships and revenue.

Industries