Effective Communication Is Your Greatest Ally

Communication is the key to a healthy relationship both inside and outside of the workplace. It’s what makes clients respect the people they do business with, and it also is what keeps strong ties on friendships and marriages. Communication is how relationships are formed, that being said, lack of communication is often times the root cause of those very relationships falling apart. This is why it’s important to keep in constant contact with your clients. Whether it’s sending out weekly/monthly newsletters, a friendly e-mail, or picking up the phone at least once a month to remind your client that you still care and desire their business.

I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert on communication personally, but I can tell you that I’ve seen what being honest and transparent with your client can do along the lines of trust. In today’s society, trust is viewed as one of the most valuable assets you can obtain. If your client trusts you, and believes in the product they are receiving from you, what purpose would they have to drop your service? That being said, is it possible to gain the trust of your client without being honest and transparent? Of course. However, I view it similar to building your company on pillars of sand; the moment a client discovers you are being untrue is the moment the tide rises. The real question is, how long can you deceive your clients?

Everyday, each person in this society is flooded by TV ads, radio commercials, and billboards that do as much as possible to catch their eye, even if it means skewing the truth of the product, so when a person finds a trustworthy and transparent business that provides an honest product, they’ll be sure to recommend that business to everyone they know in need of the same service.

Operating your business should be very similar to managing a personal relationship. This goes for both the business’s clients as well as its employees. When dealing with your clients, it’s important that they fully understand the service you are providing, or the product they are purchasing. In turn, it’s also important for the business to understand exactly what the customer is searching for and the best way to go about obtaining that product for the customer. Strong attention to detail while communicating with the client is extremely important. I have heard so many stories of people hiring a website company to build a website for their business and not providing any details.

In my case, I feel that it is the web development company’s responsibility to ask the important questions when it comes to providing details, as the customer might not know exactly what they need to provide. This may seem to be an obvious transaction of communication, but you’d be surprised at how often a client will expect their business information to magically appear on the web after hiring a web developer, just like your partner might expect you to magically fully understand their emotions without telling you about problems they are experiencing.

When dealing with your employees, constant communication is a must to maintain a stable work environment. Weekly meetings are a great idea to ensure everyone is on the same page, as well as to discuss any issues that employees may be experiencing with how processes are being managed and suggestions on how to resolve said issues. You might feel that you might not have enough time to spend on a weekly company meeting, but you’d be surprised at what just 15 minutes a week can do to make you aware of underlying critical issues.

Remember that the quality of service your company produces is directly linked to the state of your employees. This may not be true all the time, but I can assure you that your employees will produce higher quality work when they are happy all the time, as opposed to being depressed or upset daily. It means the world to an employee that their employer actually cares about the work environment, and works to maintain a positive atmosphere at the workplace. In short, if you treat your employees like family, they will more than likely return the favor, and this can do wonders for their work ethic, loyalty, and integrity.

In the business world, communication can be your greatest ally. Paying attention to fine details and keeping in constant contact with your clients and employees will keep you in the loop. It will help you better relate to your customer’s and employee’s needs, and in turn help create a stable work environment as well as a reliable source of income from loyal clients. Above all else, shoot for taking the most honest route when communicating with your employees and clients, it may take longer to reach your goal, but once you get there, your competition will have a hard time taking your customers away or stealing one of your best workers.