Communication is a huge subject, isn’t it? And when most companies think about communication they think about communication with their customers. But what about communication with your employees too? Internal communication? They are the ones talking to your customers, and they need to have the best view of the company to ensure they pass that on to your customers.
Imagine the scene. An employee has heard a rumour that things are not going well in the company, that sales are down and therefore some people will lose their jobs. When they speak to the customer their voice is flat, they have no enthusiasm and the customer goes away thinking twice about working with you. Or if it is an existing customer that your employee knows well they may even share the rumour with them! Eeek!
The truth is that you have lost one of your major customers, yes sales are down this month, but you can see that there are some great orders in the pipeline. And you are not worried, and you are definitely not thinking about redundancies! But all your employees heard was a major customer was lost, the rest of the story was made up as it was passed around the company!
What if you had communicated to all employees about the customer being lost, and also shared about the orders on the way? What a difference it would have made to the feel of the company – the gossip would have been stopped immediately and the new and existing customers would have spoken to a happy, motivated staff member.
I set up The Pathway Communication Company Ltd to help companies like yours improve their internal communications. Changing not just the small things (do you listen to your staff when they talk to you?) but the big things too. The whole company communication strategy, sharing your goals and asking for your employees to share theirs too. Asking them for ideas about how the company can move forward and listening to their answers.
Still unsure? Worried about the time it will take and whether it will really change anything, would it work for your staff? Let’s talk. Tell me more about the issues and I can see if I think I can help.
Jacqui Hanbury is the Managing Director of The Pathway Communication Company Limited and is a specialist in helping you find the thing that is stopping your business from achieving as much as it could be. Follow her on LinkedIn to find out more.
The Pathway Communication Company Ltd provides a personalised plan to help you and your business move forward. We might help you set goals, a strategy, a communication plan, facilitate a meeting, be a coach or mentor. Whatever it takes. Find out more at: www.pathwaycc.co.uk