Communication in business is critical. It is my belief that for most businesses you simply cannot over-communicate with a customer or client. Heck, even when I was flying planes into towered airports, communication was absolutely essential to keep everyone safe. In that case, the preferred communication style was to be accurate and succinct. In the case of business, and especially in my field of real estate, communication is part of the educational process to help our customers and clients get the most out of our services… in a way that creates the least amount of stress.
Setting Expectations
Communicating expectations is a great way to allow your clients to feel more in control of what is happening and what is to come. There is the added bonus of you looking like a genius (or at the very least knowing what you are doing) when what you told them would happen does happen. When you get good at setting the expectations as to what is to come next, you’ll begin to notice your clients are far less stressed and appreciate your services a whole lot more.
Dealing With Hardships
One of the worst forms of communication is avoidance. Make no mistake, when you avoid communicating your customers can feel it. They may not be able to put their finger on it, yet they will instinctively know something isn’t quite right. Then, when the theoretical poop hits the proverbial fan, they’ll know that trust has been broken, or at least damaged.
Take on any challenges that occur immediately. Ever notice that challenges seem to get bigger and heavier with time? Then, when you finally deal with it there seems to be a sense of relief? Well, imagine what your clients are thinking about the situation, and about you, when they know something is wrong and yet they don’t have all the facts.
Proving Your Value
Communicating what you are looking at and how you will handle it and then reporting back proves your value to the client. Ever notice how in this era of YouTube and endless websites that many people feel they can do most things you can do? Heck, just talk to a couple For Sale by Owners (if you are in real estate) and you’ll soon realize that many of them (not all) simply undervalue what an experienced agent and negotiator can do for them.
Don’t be the person in business that causes your clients to think they can do your business as good as you can. It is embarrassing (for you!) if they think that.
Communicate In Their Preferred Style
You may love email but your client prefers texts. Then you better text. Still, the one true way of making sure your message is delivered in a fashion that minimizes misunderstandings is the good old fashioned phone call. People tend to read in their own “mood” and voice. With a phone call you control the dialogue, the tone, the voice inflections, etc. Plus, you can hear in real time what they are really thinking not what you are interpreting through a misspelled text.
The main point of this post is to challenge you to communicate, communicate, communicate. You can do this in business, politics, marriages and with your teenagers… if they’ll listen.
Recent Comments