Why Market To Women And How Should You Do It?

Even if the decision to buy appears to rest elsewhere, women frequently have a major influence on whether or not the sale is made. It’s easy to consider the car industry as predominantly male-driven. The majority of salespersons, journalists and mechanics are male, and published statistics of new car sales are weighted toward men.

For example, in 2002, almost 850,000 new cars were sold in Australia, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. It is estimated…

Keywords:
selling to women, presenting to women, sale presentations

Even if the decision to buy appears to rest elsewhere, women frequently have a major influence on whether or not the sale is made. It’s easy to consider the car industry as predominantly male-driven. The majority of salespersons, journalists and mechanics are male, and published statistics of new car sales are weighted toward men.

For example, in 2002, almost 850,000 new cars were sold in Australia, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. It is estimated that sole female car purchases represent between 20 and 48 percent of this figure, but female influence on those same purchases is around 70-80 percent.

This takes us back to the basic marketing concept of remembering that the decision-maker is not always the person who pays the bill, a rule frequently forgotten by administrators of hotel loyalty cards who do not allow points to be collected by guests if the bill is being sent back to the company.

Another area often considered to be a male dominion is that of technology. Looking at DVD sales, for instance, we find that in 2002, only a third of women claimed to be their family’s primary DVD purchaser but by 2004 that figure had increased by more than half.

What is interesting here is not so much the size of the market, but the speed of its increase. Therefore, companies that have traditionally geared their marketing to men and continue to do so because the male market has always been their main source of custom may be guilty of backward thinking.

Another aspect flagged up by the speed of change is how challenging it can be for companies to stay ahead of the game when marketing to women. Factors that affect women’s desires and purchasing power such as levels of education, income and independence are all increasing at a more rapid rate than those of men.

What women want that’s different to what men want

The lives of the majority of women today are infinitely more complicated than the lives of their male counterparts. It is the woman in the relationship who will generally be looked to when it comes to the multi-faceted operation of the home. The woman is likely to be the one who keeps the environment clean and organized, ensures the family or partner is clothed and fed, shops, irons, recycles, handles the help, ferries the kids and keeps tabs on everyone’s social diaries. On top of this, she’s very likely to be holding down one of more jobs or developing a business or career.

So the entire running of the household is likely to have the female as the lynch-pin. This often includes the handling of the household finances and yet the majority of financial products, along with cars and technology, are still considered male-gender specific.

How women make the decision to buy

Frequently, when seeking solutions to problems, women will have conducted research online and be extremely well-prepared prior to placing themselves in line for a sales pitch. Any company that does not acknowledge this and insists on wasting a woman’s increasingly valuable time is likely to trigger a negative response as she can feel patronized by a “step-by-step, start from the beginning”, approach that may be unnecessary.

With such complicated lives, women seek simplified solutions. When looking at your product, consider how your marketing can also be simplified to avoid adding to an already stressful life. Is it possible for your entire product and its benefits to be presented in such a way that it solves problems for over-stressed women? Does your marketing show how your product will support her busy lifestyle?

It is not even as simple as the traditional method of asking questions and identifying what she wants because she will make purchasing decisions based, not only on her own needs, but also on the needs of her family. The first consideration should always be an acknowledgement of the complications in her life.

So she needs to know that you understand the problems she faces. Can your sales force show that they identify with her?

Women are three times as likely to learn about a new product from another woman. It is likely that women purchasers assume that another woman can more easily understand her challenges than a man. If a woman is presenting your product and is able to show how your product or service makes sense in the world they both occupy, the purchase is a natural progression.

When the sale is made in this manner, your female purchaser feels valued and acknowledged and knows that she has been offered a solution, rather than having been pushed into a sale which she will inevitably cancel.

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Translating Company Collateral to PowerPoint

As a PowerPoint user, it is sometimes necessary to accurately translate a company’s marketing collateral to slide format. Learn some tips on moving copy effectively between the mediums.

Keywords:
powerpoint, design, collateral, corporate

As a PowerPoint user, it is sometimes necessary to accurately translate a company’s marketing collateral to slide format. Often, this information arrives in the format of a company brochure, or copied blurbs from the website, or a long Word document bogged down with New Age sales jargon and irrelevant “stuffer” copy.

It is your job to find the needles of information in the haystacks of hype, to reduce lengthy paragraphs to mere phrases, to provide your audience with only the information they need to know. Brevity is your goal, bullet points your craft.

When tackling these projects, which can be nothing short of arduous for lengthy documents spread across multi-page presentations, there are some best practices and tactics to make your life easier and the final product better.

1. Read the content several times. Sometimes it takes a few takes to understand exactly what is being said, especially if the copy is technical in nature. This step is especially critical for freelancers, who might not be as familiar with the corporate messaging as an in-house designer or marketing support person.

2. Print the document out and read it from paper. This can help comprehension, and makes it easy to highlight passages or make notes.

3. Highlight key passages. Look for “power words.” These are the words or phrases that pop off the page, are descriptive, and reinforce the message with color and purpose. Use these words in your PowerPoint slides. For instance:

“In the past year, the company sales team has achieved a ten percent increase in numbers, well beyond initial projections. Leveraging our recently implemented database, profit margins continue to rise despite several personnel additions and our office expansion initiative.”

Could be:

* 10% in sales over last year

* Better than projections

* Profits rise despite expansion

4. Bullets are always better than full sentences. They are punctual and easy to digest. Never use full paragraphs unless you specifically want your audience to not read what you have to say.

5. Trim copy to get to the core message. Eliminate frivolous and clichйd marketing speak like “leverage existing technology” and “innovative solutions.” These weak strings of buzzwords barely meant anything when they were first published, and the only response they elicit now is the glazing over of your audience’s eyes.

6. Find the numbers and take advantage of them! People like to see numbers – they are easy facts to understand, and give meaning to ambiguous phrases. It is always better to say “Our sales this month are 25% more than a year ago at this time” than “Our sales have increased over the last year.” Also, use actual numbers like “25%” rather than “twenty-five percent.” It saves space and gives the text more punch.

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Your Greatest Marketing Assets

Do you know what your greatest marketing assets are? Here’s a hint: It’s got nothing to do with a killer logo or a great web site. Two of the greatest marketing assets you posses can make all the difference in your results.

Keywords:
small business marketing, marketing tips, marketing ideas, marketing strategy

You might not think that you are a marketing and sales person, but if you own or work in a small business think again. When you’re in business for yourself – whether you like it or not, feel like you’re good at it or not – you are a marketing and sales person.

I tell my marketing clients and those that attend my various marketing presentations all the time that the two greatest assets you posses are your Attitude and Belief. When these are positive and show through your marketing and sales efforts, your results will increase dramatically.

Attitude: Be enthusiastic and passionate about your value proposition to the marketplace. You know that what you offer can make a difference and have an impact on your clients. When it comes to your own marketing, if you feel good about yourself and you have self-confidence because you are doing everything for the benefit of your clients, you’ll become more attractive to prospective clients.

Belief: You don’t have to have a degree in marketing to get great marketing results. But you do have to believe in yourself and your actions. I call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that can’t do something, you’re right – you won’t do it. On the other hand, if you believe that you can learn what it takes to get better marketing results you will.

If you’re persistent in pursuing your business and your small business marketing with a positive attitude and belief that you can, sooner or later you’ll find what works for you. You’ll discover the marketing strategies and tactics that allow you to begin attracting attention and bringing in new clients consistently! I know because it’s happening for me.

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Why Postcards are Popular to Businesses?

To make a business endeavor a success the people behind it must be good in communication. It is the idea of what you communicate and how to communicate that matters.

Keywords:
Postcards Printing, Commercial Postcard Printing, Color Postcards Printing, Rush Postcards Printing

To make a business endeavor a success the people behind it must be good in communication. It is the idea of what you communicate and how to communicate that matters. Good communication is thus, the link that connects business and clients. It is also the controlling factor that links all types of businesses.

One of the most effective ways to communicate about any business is the use of promotional materials like postcards, business cards, posters, flyers and the likes.

Let us discuss the significance of the first item. Postcards are usually rectangular shaped piece of paper or cardboard with the significant details of the business on it.

Why are they popular to businesses? The ultimate reason is to make a sale. However, before a sale can take place there must first be familiarity with its products and services. With regards to this aspect, postcards can be used. Be sure that postcards have retention value in order for customers to easily recall them. As a result, it will drive them to buying or subscribing of your products or services.

Another reason is to follow up on customers. At first sight, the postcard may not get the goal of the company thus, it needs considerable amount of follow ups. Retention is the key factor to yield forthcoming sales.

Third reason is to update regularly. The details of the business might have change with time and strategies thus, we have to consider these changes and come up with an updated version of rush postcards.

After the updates and the usual hi’s and hello’s to the customers, the next thing to do is to check out its affectivity to the sales world. This phase may be called ‘checking out customers’. Moreover, postcards are needed to be sent in order to refresh the customers of your products and service especially the latest ones.

Postcards are powerful marketing tools that can convey message through its colorful, clear and striking images and crisp texts. Full color postcards are the most effective type of postcard used by businesses. This is because of its enigmatic effect on the eyes and emotions of the viewers. Try to capture it in your postcards as well. All you have to do is place moving pictures and texts that way, you can very well catch and seize your viewers decision so as to be favorable to your business!

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Free Web Site Promotion By Writing Articles.

As anyone with a web site knows, site promotion and search engine visibility are very important. The way you go about achieving search engine visibility is up to you, but there is a way of getting quick results that most people overlook. Most people will concentrate their efforts on search engine optimization and once the site is ready for business, some paid advertising. Paid advertising has one major failing, after a certain period of time, or clicks etc you have to pay aga…

Keywords:
articles, link popularity, proof reading, reprint, traffic, web site promotion, free

As anyone with a web site knows, site promotion and search engine visibility are very important. The way you go about achieving search engine visibility is up to you, but there is a way of getting quick results that most people overlook. Most people will concentrate their efforts on search engine optimization and once the site is ready for business, some paid advertising. Paid advertising has one major failing, after a certain period of time, or clicks etc you have to pay again or else your advert is removed and the traffic it was generating stops.. In my opinion there is a better way than paid advertising. It is ‘reprint articles’. What’s that? Quite simply it means that you write an article about almost anything you know, consisting of around 600 to 1200 words, and then you ‘release’ it for other people to use. That may seem like a lot of words to write, but once you get started it is often harder to keep the word count down, than to reach the most effective count of 1200 words or less.

You are probably asking yourself how writing an article can boost traffic to your web site. The article needs to hold the readers attention so they are interested in clicking your link when they have finished reading it. The link back to your web site at the bottom of your article does most of the work. ( Ding! ) When your article is used by web site owners your link popularity can increase quite quickly. The more links there are pointing to your web site, the higher your site will rank in the search engines, and that will certainly help to bring in traffic. Search engines use your ‘link popularity’ as an important factor when working out how high your site will rank. For example, you could have 50 well written and search engine optimized pages making up your site, but if no one links to it, how are the search engines to know if your site is any good? They use link popularity as a gauge of human interest in the contents of your site. The more links you have pointing to your site the higher the human interest supposedly is, and as such the search engines reward that with higher ranking, which in turn gets you more traffic.

So how do you get more links from an article that you have written? The best way is to pay someone to distribute it for you. Hang on, that sounds a lot like advertising! And it is very similar. But it is advertising that doesn’t expire, and it can actually get more effective with time. Once again, the reason for that is quite simple, and it goes something like this. When you promote an article using a paid service, you can usually get your article available to hundreds or even thousands of ‘ezines’ or web sites that use reprint articles. That can give your site hundreds of new inbound links which can raise your sites link popularity very quickly. I should point out that you actually are releasing your article ‘into the wild’ of the internet, in the hope that a small percentage of people that read it, will copy it in full and post it on their web site. From there it can only be seen by more people, with even more chances for it to be copied or clicked on. Every time your article gets ‘picked up’ by another web site, you get another inbound link. Cool. Try doing that with an advert! It just won’t happen! Articles do not usually have a use by date, and even if they are archived, they still function as a link to your site. That’s because the archived articles are still spidered by search engines so you are still getting link popularity for them. Of course this method works even better if you regularly release an article in this way, for building a following of your articles is a sure way to get even more visitors to your site. Don’t forget that your articles can be about anything, it is the link at the bottom that helps your site to prosper. The more informative, funny, or relevant your article is, the higher its chances are of being used. Do not include profanity, racist remarks and the like, because they will not do your web sites reputation any good at all. Some article publishers will refuse to use your articles if there is a single swear word in it. Also bear in mind that you are writing an article, NOT an advert, so it must not read like an advert! So write to the best of your ability and even if your topic is not new, it should help to boost your traffic quite nicely. Give your article sufficient time to work, for the wheels of the internet turn very slowly at times. You can get software that checks your link popularity with the search engines, but don’t bother with checking too often, once per fortnight will probably be often enough.

Please don’t forget to proof read your articles, or better still, get someone else to do it for you. The author of an article is often not the best person to proof read it. That’s because they know what it is supposed to say and as such they can have difficulty in picking up any errors. Good luck!

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Trade Show Marketers: How To Make Attendees Willingly Rush to Your Booth

Trade show booths are a lot like cars. They all basically do the same thing: they take you from point A to point B. Some do it in sleek, chic manner, others with zip and zing, and sill others do it more by just sort of lumbering along.

Keywords:
trade show booths,trade show display,tradeshow booths

Trade show booths are a lot like cars. They all basically do the same thing: they take you from point A to point B. Some do it in sleek, chic manner, others with zip and zing, and sill others do it more by just sort of lumbering along.

And when it comes to your trade show booth, the last thing you want to do is lumber along. You want a trade show booth with class, sass and kick, well, you know.

The absolute best way to ensure your trade show booth has just the right combination or class and sass is to hire graphic design experts to create the perfect trade show booth for your business.

Yes, you can buy a trade show booth that’s more or less designed using a template, and it will look good. But you want more for your booth than to just look good: you want it to be stunning and hypnotic and suck people over to check you out like they will a lovely Jag in a mall parking lot.

Graphic designers know how to do this. They’ll take the time to learn about you and your business. They’ll look at all your marketing materials for colors and themes they can use in your trade show booth. Professional graphic designers know their eye candy and can guarantee you will have a visually appealing trade show booth that customers will be drawn to.

More importantly, what professional graphic designers can do is to develop an overall marketing concept for your trade show booth. Why is that important? Every great marketing and advertising campaign has a concept, a basic message that it works to convey. That concept will carry through all of a companies advertising and marketing materials by using various elements in them all of them to ensure that consumers are saturated with that message.

For instance, if your company uses the colors royal blue and white, you want these colors to be dominant in your booth design. You don’t want to go with purple and green for your booth, though you would definitely stand out from the trade show booth crowd using that combination of colors! What would happen, though, is after the trade show when a customer saw your standard royal blue and white marketing materials, they wouldn’t automatically connect those materials with your business-and worse, might toss them in the trash.

Professional graphic designers also know how color and visuals work together to be appealing, inviting and tell a story. They also understand color and balance, and how to use them to get a response from the viewer. And that response should always be something more than “Oh, what a nice-looking trade show booth.” They can create a trade show booth that will have customers going “Oh, wow! I’ve got to get over to that booth right now. Gotta check it out!”

And really, why would anyone settle for being nice looking when they could be fabulous! Or lumber along in a nice mini-van when they could just as easily be zipping around in a Porsche!

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Getting a Web Site Can Be Fast, Easy, and Inexpensive When You Know Your Options

So what do you do if need to get a web site but you’re not sure how to go about getting one. The good news is you have several options. To help determine which option is best for you, ask yourself the following five questions.

Keywords:
marketing, web site, internet marketing, low cost marketing

So what do you do if need to get a web site but you’re not sure how to go about getting one. The good news is you have several options. To help determine which option is best for you, ask yourself the following five questions:

1) How computer literate am I?

2) How easily do I learn new computer programs?

3) How much time am I willing to put into this?

4) Is this the best use of my time?

5) How much money am I willing to spend?

If you are fairly computer literate, learn new software programs fairly easily, and are willing to spend some time, one of the cheapest ways to get a web site is to build it yourself.

You can use off-the-shelf software such as Microsoft FrontPage and either design your site yourself, or purchase a pre-designed template to make it even easier. The good news is you will be able to update your site as much as you want and it won’t cost you a dime.

If you have little time or interest in learning how to build a web site on your own, you have several options. First, you can use an online “Click and Build” service. This route is fast, simple and you don’t have to program anything. This option is inexpensive as well and also includes your web site hosting as part of the package. Check out http://www.its4domains.net for more information on this option.

Your other option is to let a professional handle it for you. I refer my clients to several web designers who work with small businesses and are relatively inexpensive. Cost will depend on the size of your web site and the capabilities you require but you can probably get a basic site built for less than $1000.

For more information on this and other low-cost marketing strategies, visit http://www.10stepmarketing.com

(C) 2009 Debbie LaChusa

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Why I joined and said YES to Success University

The reason why I joined and said YES to Success University, and the big decision that changed my life.

Keywords:
Why, joined, YES, Success, University, money, commission, profitable, richmarketing, internet

Hi,
My name is Thomas Haldorsen and I’m 20 years old man from Norway. I live in a small community of only 20 000 and I was in work earning money at the local supermarket for my future education entering university next year.
But then one month ago I was in a car crash were I got injured pretty bad. My left shoulder had been dislocated and literally ripped off its hedges in the crash. Shortly after I went true surgery and my shoulder was stabilized and located into place. But now after getting strict orders from my doctor to take it easy and rest, off course this is making it impossible for me to work. So I decided to take that lost effort and focus that on something else. My answer was Success University.

I started reading about internet marketing shortly after my accident and found out what a wonderful and fantastic opportunity this was, so I was hooked. I began by reading a couple of e-books about affiliate programs and how the system works, and I got excited. I knew this was something that could change my whole life, so I did extensive research and implemented the methods I had learned.
Then only a few days ago I got a newsletter from the creator of one of the e-books I had read. Some of may know his name, The Rich Jerk. I had used the tips and tricks this guy wrote about and I knew they worked and he was for real about making money. So I joined his team, and now I’m in good company confident that I will make my financial dream come true.

In the newsletter he talked about a new type of affiliate program which blow him and me away. This is Success University, but what is it?
Success University is a company with simple goals, giving away free information about internet network marketing and at the same time make you money with its awesome compensation plan. And the way you make money is by recruiting other people to join the program earning you commission. It maybe sound to good to be true but it works and you learn a whole lot about marketing even if you’re a normal person like my or the head of a million dollar company. That’s the beauty of it, you don’t need a lot of knowledge of marketing, and you learn it from the experts and then doing it yourself making it happen.

Many have heard of pyramid schemes and how they scam people to invest money and then afterward the heads of run off with your money. But even though Success University use a pyramid model for its business, doesn’t make it a scam. The big difference is that you don’t invest a large sum into the company and use that, nor do you get “credit” which you have to take out, in order to get you money.
The only thing you pay for is a monthly fee and if you choose to a one time upgrading fee which is more profitable. And the way you get money is by getting checks in you mail on a frequent basis. Money up front the way I like it myself. In addition this program is supported by some of the biggest players in internet marketing, and ranked nr. 1 on the net.

So now you know why my reason for joining Success University and I recommend everyone to check this out and participate in this program. If you would like to learn more please check out this website bellow and read for yourself, I’m certainly glad I didn’t miss out on this chance to make my dreams come true

Best wishes, for the future,

Thomas Haldorsen

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Overcoming Defensiveness in Employee Performance Evaluation Discussions

There sits Sally on the other side of the desk during her performance evaluation.

Keywords:
employee performance

There sits Sally on the other side of the desk during her performance evaluation. She’s scowling. Her arms are folded tightly across her chest. Her lower lip is turned out in a way that communicates both rejection and contempt. She’s flipped the performance evaluation she just read upside down on your desk as though it were some loathsome bug. She slowly shakes her head back and forth in a model of negativity. Looking you straight in the eye, she says, “Do you call this a performance evaluation?”

George is exactly the opposite. His employee performance evaluation, like the one you wrote about Sally, also told the truth about the fact that the quality of his work in the past twelve months wasn’t all that you expected and that immediate improvement is required. But George isn’t arguing; he isn’t negative in the slightest. In fact, he’s bafflingly positive about the negative review. He says that he agrees with everything you’ve said and tells you that you don’t have to give him any details or examples. You’re right, he says. He understands. He’s so contrite and remorseful, you almost feel apologetic about having written such a negative — but honest — evaluation. He promises to turn over a new leaf immediately and asks if there’s anything else you need as he gets up and starts walking out the door.

These are two entirely different responses to a negative employee performance evaluation. But both reactions can be described with the same word — defensive.

Defensive reactions come in two forms: fight or flight. Fight responses — what Sally displayed — show up as angry rejections of what the appraiser has said or written. The individual may deny the accuracy of the appraiser’s information or blame others for problems and shortcomings. Non-verbal indicators of fight reactions are usually clear: the person may pound the desk or point his finger. She may raise her voice or fold her arms defiantly across her chest. He may glare and refuse to engage in a normal business-like conversation.

Flight reactions — what you saw in George — are entirely different. Here the individual’s voice becomes quieter, not louder. He looks away, turns away. He speaks softly and agrees easily in order to change the subject. While the individual displaying a fight reaction may discount having any responsibility for the problems identified, the individual manifesting a flight reaction may take far more responsibility for a problem than the truth of the matter actually warrants.

Fight and flight reactions are hard-wired, genetically-based, normal human defense mechanisms for dealing with threatening situations. If your stone-age ancestor stumbled upon a testy mastodon, his alternatives were flight, fight, or get trampled. Defensive reactions served a survival purpose but they are out of place in the contemporary office. Here’s how to deal with them.

Fight reactions during an employee performance evaluation are best handled by allowing the individual time to vent. Encouraging the full expression of opinion is actually a wise approach, since many of these storms will blow themselves out if they’re allowed to.

Active listening is critical in dealing with fight reactions. Ask the individual for examples. Listen to what she has to say.

Here’s a key point: In dealing with a fight reaction, your behavior should be the opposite of the individual’s. As her emotional temperature gets hotter, yours should get cooler. As the employee starts to speak more rapidly, you should allow more pauses in what you say. If the individual’s volume increases, you should lower your voice.

Flight reactions are more subtle. The individual seeks metaphorically to flee the threatening situation. The easiest way is simply to agree with whatever is being said, change the subject, and move on. The challenge to appraisers in an employee performance evaluation when flight reactions arise is to continue to focus on the performance deficiency until there is complete understanding.

Too often, though, the appraiser feels just as awkward and nervous about confronting George with the fact that his performance was less than acceptable as George is in getting the bad news. The result is that the appraiser doesn’t drill down to the hard realities and allows the immediate defensive acceptance to bring the discussion to a premature end.

For example, as soon as he’s presented with the truthful evaluation, George says, “Yes. You’re right. I really did do a bad job this year. And I appreciate your bringing it to my attention. And you can count on me to do better in the future. I promise, I really will.”

We tend to be so relieved about not having to go through an unpleasant confrontation that we may accept George’s hastily offered, doubtfully sincere assurances and move on. But if we accept his statement as presented, it’s unlikely that there will be any real understanding or genuine commitment to change. That’s why during the employee performance evaluation the effective manager says something like, “Thanks, George. I’m glad we both look at it the same way. But let’s actually go through analyzing what happened this year. If we do that, then you can make some plans that will really make a difference in the upcoming twelve months.”

Fight and flight reactions aren’t the most common reactions to employee performance evaluations. Since most people perform well, accept honest feedback, and possess a high degree of maturity, the likely response to a performance appraisal is understanding and acceptance — even to those parts that aren’t totally flattering. If we realize that defensive reactions are part of the essential human condition, and have the patience to continue a business-like discussion of the performance evaluation in spite of any initial defensive reactions, we’re likely to break through the defensiveness and end up with a productive conversation.

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Rehabilitation Of Injured Workers Boosts The Bottom Line

To most employers, Workers’ Compensation insurance is a necessary evil. Not only a statutory requirement, it ensures that employees injured in the course of their work are taken care of. It can, however, be very costly, particularly for larger companies where the premium is based, in part, on claims experience.

Work accidents can never be completely prevented, however, with the implementation of safe work practices and a strong rehabilitation policy, the number of incident…

Keywords:
insurance,workers compensation,work

To most employers, Workers’ Compensation insurance is a necessary evil. Not only a statutory requirement, it ensures that employees injured in the course of their work are taken care of. It can, however, be very costly, particularly for larger companies where the premium is based, in part, on claims experience.

Work accidents can never be completely prevented, however, with the implementation of safe work practices and a strong rehabilitation policy, the number of incidents and time lost will be significantly reduced. This will result in lower claims costs and, therefore, lower premiums. Productivity losses are also minimised with injured workers rehabilitated for a quick return to work.

An employee being injured on the job affects several parties.

• The injured worker and his family need to be reassured that
i. his medical needs will be attended to
and
ii. the family will not suffer financially.

• Colleagues and Workmates need to be reassured that the injured worker is being taken care of properly and that management is supportive. They also need to be kept updated on his progress and expected return to work.

• Supervisor/Immediate Boss needs to know worker is being looked after and also needs to take a proactive role in the rehabilitation process. This is done through close contact with the relevant rehabilitation and health professionals managing the case and the injured worker himself.

• Corporate Management needs to be kept apprised of the current situation; in particular, how the progress of claim and estimated cost will affect claims costs. Close contact with Workers’ Compensation insurer will clarify this and ensure all parties are working together to achieve a successful outcome –i.e.: returning the injured employee to work.

Apart from the obvious stress and strain on the employee’s own family, the insured business is placed under pressure when an employee is injured and at risk of suffering considerable financial loss as a result.

For example:

Jim works at the “Crisp ’n Juicy” apple orchard. Crisp ’n Juicy supplies eating apples for the major supermarkets in the state and also has its own juicing centre at the orchard. From there, Crisp ’n Juicy Apple Juice is transported all over the country.

Jim’s job is to sort the apples according to size and type into eating apples and juicing apples. It’s a fairly specialised role and a keen eye is needed to select which are juicing apples and which are for eating. It is also fast-paced so Jim must be quick, efficient and precise. It took Jim years to reach his current level of proficiency; the only other person who can match him is Crisp ’n Juicy’s owner.

Just as work was finished for the day, Jim decided to pick up a crate of apples and place it next to the sorting bay ready for the next day. When he lifted it his back “froze” and he found himself doubled up in pain. Jim’s boss, Tony drove him to the hospital where it was confirmed he had a slipped disc in his back. Jim was certified unfit for work and kept in hospital for a few days.

Tony visited him in hospital the next day, bringing claim forms for Jim to complete and reassuring him that he would be looked after. An appointment was also scheduled with Crisp ’n Juicy’s Rehabilitation Provider for when Jim was released from hospital.

Meanwhile, back at the orchard…

Bill, the owner of Crisp ’n Juicy, has ceased his outside commitments with potential export market representatives so that he can replace Jim at the sorting bay. He knows that to train somebody new would take weeks, if not months.

Bottom line… Crisp ’n Juicy is losing money every day Jim is not at work.

Two weeks have passed and Jim is moving more freely after an intensive physiotherapy treatment program. In consultation with his treating doctor the rehabilitation provider has devised a return to work plan. The employer is thrilled at the prospect of having Jim back at work and implements the program immediately.

Jim returns to modified duties for two weeks, sharing the role initially with Leila, the new trainee. Jim is teaching her how to sort apples, which enables Bill to recommence his marketing activities and make the company more even profitable.

After two weeks on modified duties, Jim returns to full duties. Seeing the potential damage that could have been done to his business, Bill implements a work safety program, part of which entails all workers attending a course on safe work practices, including lifting.

In consultation with Crisp ’n Juicy’s Workers’ compensation insurer, Bill learns that quick rehabilitation intervention has potentially saved the company hundreds of dollars in premium.

Bill’s a happy fellow.

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