We live in a world where there are so many communication options there really is no excuse for not staying in touch. That said, I have noticed something that is really bothering me of late and that is how slack some businesses are on the communication front. It bothers me because at times I am guilty of the same crime and I am communication professional. 

In business we all have those amazing suppliers who just seem to get the job done, with no real fuss, on time, every time. I have been dealing with a printing company called Lotsa Printing who have been supplying my printing for about ten years. My emails are answered immediately, quotes turned around in a matter or hours rather than days, jobs processed on time and the quality control is very good.

Sure, every once in a while they may make a mistake but they fix it up immediately and take full responsibility if there is an issue. I have done an enormous amount of printing with them and never had an issue. As a company they have grown dramatically in the past ten years and now I really understand why.

Their amazing quality, which is a real credit to the owners, is consistency. They are consistent in all that they do and that what makes them stand out from the crowd. As a customer I know exactly what to expect with Lotsa Printing and they always meet that expectation and very often exceed it. 

I encounter so many businesses that struggle financially, that are deadly keen to try and grow their business and yet they take three days to return an email, or even acknowledge that they got it in the first place. What message are they sending to their customers? I am more busy or important than you. 

We are all busy, we all get a million emails, we all get too many phone calls but acknowledging contact only takes a second. How many times have you been waiting for a response from someone only to find out that they haven’t even got the email you are talking about or the message you left?  

Enough!!!!

To become a truly exceptional business I believe many of us need a total communication overhaul. We need acknowledge any contact from our customers, speed up responses and keep our customers updated on progress of orders or projects. Any business that does this will be so far ahead of the crowd it will be amazing. 

So what am I going to do about it personally? I am making a personal commitment to respond to emails and phone calls immediately (or as immediately as I can when I am on the road). I will get back to people even simply to acknowledge that I have got their message and I will be following up at a specified time in the future. I am going to commit to practicing what I preach and use modern technology to be the best communicator I can be. 

At the same time I am going to send all of my suppliers an email explaining my expectations from them in terms of communication. What I need, when I need and why? I am also going to get a little tough and say if you can’t do this, then I can’t work with you. 

Any businesses that share these views on want to add to my feelings, please drop me a line and I will get straight back to you!!!!

Thanks,

Andrew Griffiths

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This is good advice and again it is along the theme of becoming an excellent business observer. Whenever you find out about a really successful business, perhaps they have won an award or your family and friends are talking about them or there may have been an article in the newspaper, I suggest you pay the business a visit. What they sell really doesn’t matter; how they run the business does. What makes it so successful? Why do people keep coming back? Why does it win awards?

So you need to go in armed (metaphorically speaking of course) to find out their secrets and to see if you can apply any of them to your business. Often finding out why a business does so well is not clearly obvious on first inspection. From my own experience, it is more the way they do business rather than any one specific detail. It is the attitude of the staff, it is the attention to detail and it is the inviting and welcoming feel of the business. Rarely is it their pricing, a misconception that many business owners are far too preoccupied with.

Becoming a good observer of anything takes time and training. A quick walk around a successful business might give you a few clues but you need to really go a little deeper. Give them a call and make an enquiry about their product. Consider how they handle it. Most importantly, after the call did you feel like going to this business? Take the time to get to know that business, listen to their sales staff, make a purchase and see how the transaction is handled, or ask a few difficult questions. Whatever you do, try to get a very good feeling for the business.

Make a list of what you feel makes this business so good at what it does and beside each of the points indicate if they could be applied to your business. Then set about implementing them.

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• 5 Free Small Business Building Videos – to watch at your leisure.
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