How Consistent Communication Will Boost Your Business

Consistent communication has become the most important aspect of developing long lasting relationships with my clients. It is so important that I am currently in the process of writing guidelines to present to potential clients to insure we maintain healthy correspondence and make our efforts worth-while and effective for both of us. This is an important subject for anyone attempting to be professional.

I have worked with a myriad of clients that span across the spectrum of size, all the way from solo entrepreneurs to large companies that cover significant territory, and I have realized one thing – consistent communication develops healthy relationships and ultimately desired results. This is very important to acknowledge, not only for the sake of working relationships, but also for the reputation of the business. I will give two examples, one explaining a bad experience I’ve had in communication and one explaining a good experience.

Let’s start with the bad experience.. I was contacted by a company that is modern, cutting-edge and serves a large territory. I was excited to build a relationship with this company and assumed they would be up to par on their communication consistency. Unfortunately this was not the case. The first few weeks I received decent correspondence from the company but as time went on their response rate dropped. I would send emails and receive no reply, often being left in the dark. Needless to say I continued working with them but our projects were stagnant and I personally do not think highly of their company. I also felt disrespected since my emails were ignored.

OBSERVATION OF THIS SITUATION:

• Inconsistent communication often leaves people hanging and not on the same page. A project may sporadically come to a halt because of poor communication so extra effort is needed whenever starting the project again because everyone needs to get back on the same page. This can also lead to unnecessary frustration between team members.

• Inconsistent communication creates a barrier between team members and employees. Will people involved on the project feel connected? No. Will they feel proud of the company? No. This will wreak havoc on a company’s reputation because team members and employees may vent to others about the company rather than speak highly of it.

Now to the good experience… I started working with an online based company as a virtual assistant. I worked directly with the CEO whom was really up on her communication game. Whenever I sent a question she was sure to respond within a few hours and when I updated her about a completed task she always responded with a “Thank you!!” Her quick responses allowed me to learn tasks quickly and become comfortable in my position in no time, not to mention I always felt appreciated which made me look forward to working further with her. As a result I beam whenever I speak about her business and am proud to recommend her services to anyone because I know she will take good care in communicating with them.

OBSERVATION OF THIS SITUATION:

• Consistent communication allows new employees or business partners to quickly learn how to perform tasks and learn what the business is about. There is less possibility of error being made.

• Consistent communication will create a positive environment within your business so employees and co-workers feel connected and ultimately perform tasks better and with more excitement. They will even speak highly of your business outside of work which is great for reputation.

The take home note here is to communicate well with those you work with because it will be positive in more ways than you can imagine. Do not ignore the next email you receive but instead take the time to respond even if you say you will respond in a few hours.