I wrote earlier this morning about ways to approach trying to run our home businesses while dealing with grief and death issues, but that is not the only way that death and grief can affect our business. Chances are, at some point or another, we will have a customer, client, colleague, or vendor who is experiencing a terminal illness, or has experienced the death of a loved one and is working through the stages and grief. It takes caring, sensitivity and compassion on our part and those don’t always seem to be words and emotions one thinks of when one “talks business.”
When a client or customer (or other person associated with your business) is experiencing a death or grief—it really is like when a friend is in the same situation. It takes many of the same social skills, compassion, and understanding. It will depend, of course, on how well you know the individual and how closely you work together—but it is still appropriate to offer all the same consolation and condolences you would a friend—including cards, flower, hospital visits, and going to funerals. As a business relationship, however, there may be other issues and concerns that come up when someone is grieving.
What you will have to decide as a business owner is if you will provide extended deadlines, extra time, any sort of discounts, or other accommodations for someone who is grieving. Personally, I think the more understanding you can be the better, but you do still have a business to run. You should at least expect delays and expect that you will need to provide some accommodation when there is a death or a serious illness or other grief issue with one of your clients or customers (or vendors)—a year or so ago, I worked with a vendor who got way behind in billing me because of a family death. I had to decide whether to make estimated payments and hope I’d get the documentation later—or wait for the official invoices.
Compassion, sensitivity, and appreciation are important when dealing with others who are experiencing death and grief—whether they are friends, family, colleagues, or business associates. Things will eventually get back to normal, and it pays to keep an eye on the long term relationship instead of the temporary upheaval.