The Key to Business Communication: Walk the Talk

A good email is short, establishes your credibility, mentions a connection you have, and may have a specific ask at the end. But business communication needs to be more than that…

We have become very tech-communicating race and it is important to remember its benefits and counter it with the potential risks it can also carry. Forgetting to communicate on the phone and face to face is a dangerous error for business. The issue with engaging in actual (not virtual) communication will be; those that talk for too long, those that are distracted from the facts and those who are unavailable.

Condensed, it’s quite simple. I am keen not to lose contact with the human side of communication and not to lose touch of the thread that an email, a search on a web site and all traceable evidence additionally provides. When business takes away the human interaction of friendship you will find it harder to close deals and agreements. It is those who can communicate with people they like who will gain more than the business completed with a faceless unknown contact. People will do business with people they like and therein you have won much of the battle, it is historically where companies entertained suppliers and contract providers in the past at racecourses, nightclubs and exotic destinations but those days have long gone – thank goodness. We now have a legal level ground for competition. So, when competitors cross the line, they can expect to be held to account. The competitions agency and the Advertising Standards Authority have stepped up their game in view of the fear of the unknown Brexit creates.

Those who continue to breach the rules can expect to be punished. In addition, those in business who fail to communicate in person will lose a vital percentage of their market. However, if that was the only criteria surely retail in the UK would not be under pressure, surely business isn’t just about the price point? Again, it comes back to the human touch. People who live and work wholly in a cyber world don’t make a cup of tea – they will buy their favourite morning refresher on the hoof, buying a tea or coffee while standing in a queue of people, all of whom will be focused entirely on their phone screens, not muttering a word to each other. This entirely impersonal process is the way many people run their business and far too easily lose the value that their conversation and personality can achieve – it is a form of wellbeing and like sunshine, communication and conversation generates a real feelgood emotion.