Good communication is essential for your business; without it your business will not remain alive. If your business associates and customers do not understand the message you are conveying or if they interpret it as negative, they may take their business elsewhere.Business owners and employees, therefore, must practice refined communication standards at all times to win over more customers and corporate partners.
Keenness and commitment to keep a great business communication channel open is a surefire recipe for continued success in business.
The communication you want to convey may be a proposal that opens new doors, a technique that solves a problem, an insight that simply makes sense or any other idea that boosts the bottom line of your business
Perhaps the particular communication may be a difficult one like a new policy statement, a refusal to contribute to some corporate donation, issuing an ultimatum letter, having to tell the shareholders to expect a lower result or may be even a strong request from the bureaucrats. The objective of effective communication is being able to break both good and bad news in the most professional way.
moreAs an employer or employee, even if you dislike sending emails and do not need a computer to effectively run your business, at some point you may be required to write a business letter or email. This is indeed a task to which you should give a significant amount of attention and care whether you enjoy doing it or not. Here are some tips you might find useful.
Winning writing
To attract your readers’ attention and interest, refrain from using complicated words. Instead, use a normal conversational tone. In other words, just write how you would ‘naturally say it’ in a friendly business environment.
Words are very powerful on paper. They can correctly convey your meaning or result in misunderstandings, therefore, do a bit of planning before you write. Ask yourself whether you can convey the same idea in a better way.
Remember that shorter sentences are more powerful than longer ones. Simple grammar is more reader- friendly than a variety of complex tenses.
If you could express your idea with plain action words; never try to stuff your letter with grammar structures. Your motive is to let the reader understand your point pretty fast; then just do that straightaway.
Sending word via e-mail
Today, both international and domestic businesses are benefited by the free service of the Internet. Millions of business e-mails are landing in receivers’ in-boxes even at the moment you are reading this article. Most probably you are one of these important message senders, and no doubt have noticed that there is an Art in sending business emails; as much the sense of Commerce. Once you have thoughtfully composed an email, proceed with caution before you click the “send” button. Read it again and re-affirm to yourself that you have composed it in the best interests of your company. Then particularly ensure your message makes sense to the receiver at the other end. When you need to reply to an e-mail, think methodically how best to respond to it. Keep your tone positive and be tactful to avoid upsetting your reader. Most importantly, do not hastily respond to business messages. Take time and give the best possible response. When you do this, there is no need to clear misunderstandings or apologize later.
Nothing like voice heard
Though email is a popular method used in business communication, the telephone still plays a vital role. The direct voice interaction is an essential element in business as well as in personal life. The telephone will retain its pride of place for many years to come.
In business, try to answer the phone by the second or third ring, if you do not, a potential customer may view it as unprofessional or unreliable. When dealing with an angry client, do not match or outdo his anger. Listen to him and maintain a calm voice when you respond. It may surprise you at how significantly your patient tone of voice can positively change his reaction.
If the caller becomes wholly abusive, and you are an employee, do not just hang up the phone.
Transfer the call to a higher-up instead. If you hold an executive position within the business, calmly say that it would be meaningful to speak once his anger has cooled.
If he continues his abuse and becomes increasingly bad-mannered, this client may just not be worth it and it is time to end the call. No matter how provoking, do not engage in a shouting match with anyone while you are in your business environment.
This etiquette also applies to one-to one meetings and even when socializing in a business circle.
Verbosity vs. 21st century
Avoid using too many words when communicating. It bores the listener and the reader and will result in him not following you. The intended effect of your words will be lost.
Boring standard cliches, reiterations, repetitions and stuffy formalities have no place in the 21st century business communication.
When asked a question, try to answer it directly without digressing.
Respond clearly and as honestly as possible; this will make your clients feel that you are interested about their concerns and are trying to sort them out.
When you make it a two-way street, they will stick with you.
l Ensure that you are knowledgeable enough to provide accurate information. If you are unsure how to answer, try to find the right response by asking someone who knows. Conveying wrong information leads to confusion and erroneous transactions.
Take pride in being a reliable communicator who commands respect of the clients, associates and higher-ups in your company.
Tact is the knack
Crafting the right words and saying them in appropriate style does the trick in both international and domestic business. Business tact is the knack of making a point in a positive way touching a chord with your clients. True, this needs a bit more effort than when making spontaneous remarks about an issue. It is, nevertheless the right way to have repeat customers and expanding business within your network. Building of close relationships based on understanding and trust is profitable; studies show that people buy products more for emotional reasons than logical ones.
Instead of Say
We refer to your letter dated 18th April *Thank you for your letter
of April 18th
With regard to our telephone conversation *Thank you for calling me
in the morning in the morning
Please revert to me at the earliest *I hope to hear from you soon
convenient time
The complaint lodged by you is being *I am looking into the matter
investigated
The workshop will be conducted by a *An industry expert will
highly qualified professional conduct the
workshop
Should you require any further *Please feel free to call me on
clarification please do not hesitate 245837 if you have any
to contact the undersigned questions
I was impressed by your innovative IT *Based on what I saw, I think
solutions, and feel that our firm could your new system may have
enormous benefit from them real potential for our firm
There is an error in your invoice 1234 *I have your invoice 1234 dated April 10 dated April 10, and there seems to be a discrepancy
We have arranged a demonstration session *You are cordially invited to
of our new products on Tuesday at 10.30am. a demonstration of our new
would like to invite you to take part in products on Tuesday at 10.30am
the event.
We are pleased to inform you that you *We are pleased to offer you
have been selected for the post of employment at ABC Co Ltd.
Graphic designer at ABC Co Ltd.
We carried out a thorough investigation *After receiving your complaint
about the complaint you had made about about unfair treatment, we
the unfair treatment you were subjected to investigated the matter carefully
For further information please visit our *Our online information at www..
website www. is the most current available
I thought I should inform you of *I wanted to pass along some
some useful information information that might prove useful to you
Look forward to seeing you at the *I’ll see you soon at the
Singapore Meeting next month. upcoming Meeting in Singapore.
I wish you good luck in your business *Look forward to hearing of your
ventures successes
That mistake was beyond our control and *While we can not promise that
we apologize to you about it. We will mistakes will never happen, we
try to find ways to prevent it from can promise to fix them when it
happening in the future happens.
Courtesy - Daily News By Sanath Nanayakkare
