“The tough part is making sure what you said was truly concise, direct, and understood as you intended.”
This might seem a bit silly, but have you ever talked to a dummy? I’m talking about a real dummy, like the ones used to display clothing. You can try all you want, but they won’t talk back. They are incapable of understanding your communication. But people aren’t dummies – people do have the capacity to understand your communication. That is, they can understand if you communicate clearly.
Celebrated Astro Strategist cum Business Astrologer Hirav Shah says, “Communication is at the core of human interaction, and it can represent the moment of truth in a business. Having the option to discuss viably with customers can prompt expanded sales, rehash business and referrals. Then again, not having the option to can rapidly prompt diminished sales, disappointed customers and negative word of mouth.”
Hirav adds, “We’ve all heard that first impressions are everything, and business is the same. Truth be told, first impressions are significantly more significant for businesses since possibilities can without much of a stretch send their business to your competition in the event that they conclude they don’t care for their underlying interaction with your organization.”
Communication is the foundation of all relationships. Some of our relationships are quite complex, dealing with our interpersonal lives, daily moods, personalities, office politics, etc. Other relationships exist in space like this blog or in email. And regardless of the mode, the same challenge persists in trying to communicate clearly.
Good communication is simple in concept but exceedingly difficult in practice. The simple part is to say what you mean as concisely and directly as possible. The tough part is making sure what you said was truly concise, direct, and understood as you intended.
Here are two general principles you can use to guide your communications
1) Think like the person you’re communicating with
2) Speak in terms the other person will understand without hesitation or thinking
Hirav Shah says, “The other day I found myself writing an email to an employee who is responsible for a process that wasn’t working quite the way I expected it to. I started to write that “your process doesn’t work and is failing at this step” and suddenly realized that if I were her, she might start to think that her boss thinks it’s her fault or that she failed because I said “your” and “failing”.
Frankly, I don’t care who’s at fault; I care about the solution. The word “you” or “your” is too personal and can easily create unnecessary stress or tension. So I changed the phrase to say, “a step in the process is not working as expected”. By being objective, not subjective or accusatory, I reduced the risk of miscommunication or causing her stress and tension, and she quickly fixed the problem without a hint of tension.
Perhaps this seems oversimplified. Who has the time to realize that an innocent word like “you” can cause tension, stress and become the subtle basis for future miscommunications? Actually, the question that should be asked is who has time for unnecessary tension, stress, and future miscommunications?!? Think like the person you are communicating with and choose words that don’t create hesitation. Then you will be recognizing potential risks with your approach and giving yourself a chance to change them for more effective communication.”
Hirav Shah concludes by saying, “Companies ought to pull together their client assistance groups on turning into a client’s partner in settling their issue, instead of on attempting to hit metrics. Businesses regularly let metrics hinder genuine critical thinking. Rather than attempting to beat the quickest help time, centre around connecting with customers in a significant manner, ask them what their issues and assumptions are, and go at issue as a group instead of neutralizing the client to address their issue.
Discussing better with your customers will co-make better encounters that leave them bound to purchase from you and allude business to you.“
