Communication - Why It's So Important in Business

What a big subject communication is. I'm even having to divide it up for my blog because it's so big.

The reason I'm writing about it at all is because of it's huge importance in every area of our life, and if you're running a business, it's essential that your communication skills are excellent.

When you're offering the same widget or service as hundreds of others, what is it that can make people buy from you? Is it that your prices are cheaper? If you're buying off the net, this might be the case, but if someone prefers to get something from a shop it may not be.

What about a money back guarantee? This is very attractive to a client buying something like coaching and it's something I'm using more and more.

OK, so we have cheap prices and money back guarantee. What else can we offer that's different from our competitors? Quality of goods would be attractive certainly, but what if your business is a service? Then, the quality becomes how you treat the customer or client.

I was listening to the radio on Saturday and a lady was talking about why she loved the retail store John Lewis. "Because people are always nice to me here", she said.

When I log into my online bank, I'm greeted by the message "Wealth warning, poor service many cause anger and resentment". How true that is!

THe worst service for me when I go into a shop is when the assistant serves me while continuing a conversation with his/her colleague, as if I didn't exist. I always want to ask if they weren't advised in training that customers really hate that!

So, if all you've got is the way you communicate, make this the thing you excel in.

Here are some tips that work for me.

1. Find some common ground - people like people like them.

2. Really listen to your customer/client - that can feel like a novel experience for some people.

3. Get some feedback - ask your clients what they like about what you do, and if there's anything else you could do to improve your service.

4. Use the feedback as a learning experience. If you've been told you're doing something wrong, it's a great opportunity to make some improvements.

5. See if you can find a measure to show how successful your communication is in your business.

Good luck!

Pam Stokes is a Business & Personal Development Coach. She also provides E-learning solutions for busy people, supervises newly qualified and trainee coaches, runs workshops in stress management, and a Diploma Course in NLP. Free downloads and blog http://www.pamstokesassociates.co.uk/coaching

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The Secret to Business Communication on a Budget

Can you remember what we ever did before the internet? As a communication tool the internet certainly takes some beating. Yes, the internet is open to abuse and contains millions and millions of pages that can really only be described as rubbish. However, as a way in which to communicate, source products and services and make purchases, organise you finances and stay in touch with family and friends, the internet has certainly seen the way in which we communicate changed beyond belief.

However, for businesses, the internet also brings with it its own problems with staff using work time in which to surf the net. So whilst the internet is great for many things it is not necessarily the best way for businesses to communicate.

There are however a couple of alternatives for communication that many modern businesses are now embracing to stay in touch with staff and get around the issue of lack of communication.

The first of these are modern intranet sites which can provide an extremely useful communication tool. Traditionally these have been pretty boring sites which were usually controlled exclusively by management with no real input from staff. This perception of the intranet site is now changing with content often updated and managed by the workforce themselves. This allows for an honest and frank exchange of views and news which many forward thinking companies are encouraging.

From information about staff, about the company, product and service updates to general information about team night outs and social activities the intranet site is a highly effective and successful way to communicate with staff.

Another way in which companies are embracing communication is by providing staff and particularly those who work on a large site with two way radios. Two Way Radio is a system that benefits from instant communication over a wide area without the call charges and network coverage problems that are often associated with cell phone technology.

2 Way Radios like the Motorola XTN446 also mean lone workers have a friendly voice at the end of the handset and therefore safety as well as communication is enhanced.

For businesses ranging from schools and college to factories and sports stadiums, two way radios are a great way for workers to stay in touch for a fraction of the cost of other forms of mobile communication.

Modern two way radios are also robust, portable and give companies a fail safe way for workers to communicate either at their premises or even when employees are working offsite. An example of this is how schools are using handheld radios not only on campus but also when taking students on field trips. This means their children are kept safe and secure at all times for minimal amounts. At a time where the safety and welfare of our children is never far from the news, this is great news for schools, nurseries and colleges.

Communication tools like intranet sites and 2 way radio do not have to cost the earth and yet the benefits they can bring to a business are substantial. If you want your business to be the best it can be, make sure you invest in technology and do not have a communication breakdown.

Apex Radio Systems Ltd are the UK's Leading Providers of Radio Communication Equipment including Two Way Radios for all types of business including Schools, Pubs, Shopping Centres, Retailers and Taxi Firms.

As the UK's Fastest Growing Radio Communications company, Apex Radio Systems Ltd, are active supporters of schemes including Shop Watch, Pub Watch and School Safe which all use 2 Way Radio Systems to help improve safety and communication amongst UK shops, pubs, clubs, schools, colleges and universities.

For all your Two Way Radio needs contact The UK's Two Way Radio Experts, Apex Radio Systems Ltd.

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Business Communication - Listening Skills

Listening skills are a very important part of any effective communication. Unless you carefully follow what you hear, you will not be able to respond to it effectively. Listening skills can be improved with practice.

Listening is important whether you are having a conversation with another person or listening to a presentation.

Listening is much more than just hearing. What you have heard should register in your mind.

Closely follow the content and try to understand what is being said. Concentrate hard and don't let your mind wander when you are listening.

One trick to keep focused is trying to anticipate what the speaker says, in advance. When you are having a conversation don't interrupt and talk only when the other person has stopped. It is not only bad manners to interrupt, but also adversely affects your understanding of the subject.

Don't think of what you are going to say next, when you are listening. It is not possible to concentrate on more than one thing at the same time.

• You should try to understand at least the main points of what is being said.

• Try to mentally summarize what you are listening to.

• Try to find out what is beneficial to you from what you are listening.

• Concentrate hard

• Closely focus on the content

• Closely focus on the important ideas

My friend told me, that a person he knew, heard with one ear and let it go out of the other, because there was nothing in between. Don't let this happen.

The author has a master's degree in science blogs at http://bnsridhar.blogspot.com/
http://wilybusiness.blogspot.com/

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Six Tips for More Effective Business Communication

The Internet has made it both easier and more difficult for people to communicate. It is now easier than ever to send written correspondence; all it takes is the click of a button. But many people would rather send off a quick email than pick up the phone, which means more people than ever are putting even their quick, casual business communication in writing. If writing is not your strong point, you may not be communicating with coworkers, clients, and partners as effectively as you could be. Here are six tips to make your business communication skills better.

Never hit the send button right after writing. Even if you are not writing an emotionally charged email, hitting send too fast can hurt you. You might have sounded a little more harsh than you meant to, or you might not have written as clearly as you could have. Either way, give it an hour or two and come back to it with fresh eyes before sending. Often you are too close to the material just after you have written it to spot flaws in your communication.

Tone it down. You may not mean to come off harshly, but people are always taking your emails and memos the wrong way. If this happens to you, you may not realize how harsh you sound in your writing. Sometimes when people read something negative, it blocks them from absorbing your entire message. Before sending out your email, read it over carefully to make sure your message is not too negative.

Write in Microsoft Word first. Microsoft Word has the Spell Check feature, and your email probably does not. The feature does not catch every mistake, but it may help you spot some typos that you otherwise would have missed. If you have difficulty with spelling, write your communications in Microsoft Word first to take advantage of its Spell Check feature.

Break it up. People have difficulty absorbing long unbroken blocks of text. To make your emails and other communications more reader-friendly, break them up into shorter paragraphs, each containing a single main idea. This will make it easier for readers to understand your point.

Don't be too casual. The Internet has given rise to a lot of casual acronyms and shortenings of words, such as ur for your and u for you. Avoid these at all costs in business communications. They are too casual for a business environment.

Consider your audience. Are you writing to a marketing exec, a programmer or other technical employee, or the company president? Are you writing to one specific person or to a large audience with different levels of technical understanding? You should always tailor your communications to your audience. If you are writing to employees who are not technical, avoid specialized technical words and break concepts down so that laypeople can understand.

Every email and communication you send does not have to be a work of genius. But it does need to be easily understood. Use these tips, and your business communication is sure to improve.

Jennifer Williamson runs a successful business as a freelance writer in southern Pennsylvania, writing for clients all over the world. To learn more about what a professional article writer can do for your business, check out her freelance writing blog

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Internal and External Communication Approaches for Business

So you are a owner and you want to know how you will be able to expand your business. One of the most important things in the world of businesses is to trigger off great relationships with other enterprises so that you earn a name. In order to establish a reputation in the trading world, you need to have a great communication strategy. Business communication can essentially be divided into internal and external communication.

Things like establishing a brand, marketing your products and services, advertising, working on things like public relations, media management and even businesses dealings with customers or other firms fall in the category of external communication.

As for internal communication, things like building up the ideals of your company, setting certain guidelines that you expect to follow in your business, carving out strategy and goals to ensure success, keeping your employees inspired and egging on all those involved in your business falls into the category of internal communication.

All the things mentioned above contribute to the betterment of your business prospects. Be it internal communication or external communication, it ultimately contributes to the growth of your business. Thus, business communication is an integral aspect that will help you go ahead and establish yourself.

When it comes to business communication, or for that matter, any aspect, the most important thing is the customer. You need to ensure that you deliver what the customer wants. Even when it comes to things like marketing or advertising, you need to show what the customer appreciates and likes. Different customers accept different kinds of marketing. It all depends on you to ensure that via business communication, you are able to cater to the choices of a wide range of people. If you are able to master the art of impressing many people by various means, you will be able to take your business to the top.

However, merely enticing your customer by showing them certain things is not good business. Good business means getting a quality product together and then marketing for it wisely so that people accept it. Just promising your customers a lot and then delivering nothing will only get your business into a soup. So gauge your products and services and then embark upon advertising and marketing. Internal business communication is the key to get all your people together and then inspiring them to deliver the best.

If you want to create a world class product, the first thing that you need to do is believe in yourself. This is where internal business communication comes in. It helps you get all your employees together and tell them that you can pull it off with élan. If there is a lot of positive thinking and bursting enthusiasm in your camp, the good spirit will show in your product. Your employees are an integral part of the company, so keeping them happy and making them believe in the company and themselves is very important.

Business communication is a very important aspect of your business and you need to take great care in improving your communication strategy so that your business keeps booming!

William King is the director of Wholesale Pages UK, UK Wholesalers Directory, Aid and Trade Wholesale Dropshippers Directory. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

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Tips For Writing An Informative Article

Tips For Writing An Informative Article

How to write an informative article? Writing an article is not that difficult as you think.

The following tips can help you in writing an informative article -

1. Write about what you really know. Before writing, do a search and find out some more details to polish your knowledge on the selected topic. You can find details about anything on the internet, using a search engine. Read as much as possible and enrich your knowledge in that particular topic, and write the article in your own voice.

2. Please remember the vital point that many of your readers already know more details than you about the topic you are writing. Therefore, write about the topic you have sufficient knowledge.

3. People will be more interested to know how you sorted out a particular problem when you had faced one. A well written article about solving your own problem will be more useful to the readers. Many of them would have faced the similar problem and your information will be of immense help to them.

4. Remember to leave enough white space in between your paragraphs. You may wonder why should it be? Reading the matter on the monitor is different from reading on the printed page. It causes eye strain and for some people neck pain also. The other main reason is that many of your readers will be senior citizens, who will be looking for various information. Hence it is better to see that your article is senior citizen-friendly, which means easy for them to read.

5. Try to write small paragraphs, which is easy to read. Most of the people will be just scanning the matter within a short time. Therefore, the smaller the paragraph the easier to read. Just place yourself in that position. How many times have you read long articles on the net? I do agree that we take time to read long articles when they are highly important to our need. Otherwise, on a routine basis, more people read only smaller articles .

6. After writing your article, read it at least 3-5 times, and if necessary read once aloud. It helps you to find the mistakes in your articles. Then you can revise your article appropriately.

Lakshmi Menon writes articles on various topics, including South India tourism. Please visit http://www.enchanting-south-india-vacations.com to know more about South India.

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4 Hot Tips to Article Success

Almost every affiliate program is free to join and promote... This is great for some just starting out and also has a small budget to go on. But how do you really make money with these programs? Article Marketing is one of the best out there to promote a product! Here are some tips to get you started:

1) Small, easy to read paragraphs. When words just keeping going and going... you lose the focus of the reader. Sometimes it's just a single sentence or even just a single word.

2) Use numbers or bullets. This helps the reader understand what you are trying to tell them in your article. When readers don't know when one point ends and the other begins, they get confused and are stressed out. You do not want this or you will turn away a customer. Also this gives a uniformed look to your article making it look professional!

3) Sub-headings can be a big help when trying to make your article flow. Making smooth and easy transitions between points. You will never lose your readers attention as well as the point and direction to where the article is pointing.

4) Nothing gets your article read more then a attention-grabbing title! If your title can stir up a person's curiosity you're already halfway in getting a person to read your article. It should be relevant to the article telling them what they will find inside... Write a title that will appeal to a persons emotions.

These 4 tips should help you further your article marketing efforts. If you don't know anything about article marketing or affiliate marketing for that matter. Please visit the site provided below, it provides you with a few more of my articles and will be a great help to you.

Start building your income now! With these proven wealth building systems you will start paving the way to your financial freedom. Discover more about affiliate and article marketing at this site: http://www.AffiliateMarketingGuide.weebly.com

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