A famous saying once said, “Communication is the lifeline of any relationship.”
And this applies to businesses as well. Business communication is essential because it helps you share information with people inside and outside the company. Effective business communication can lead to improved company processes. Because business communication is important for all aspects of company culture, it became the heart of every business. It is more likely to be the heart of every company.
Most company activities rely on business communication including vital company tasks such as making business plans, pitching new ideas, negotiating with clients, hiring new people, and even relating with our co-workers.
With that said, your business communication must be effective. When your business communication is effective, there’s a bigger chance that you will succeed in all aspects of your business.
Below are more facts that could help you understand how crucial communication is for your business!
How does communication help you with your business?
Rapport building
Building rapport or harmonious relationships with your team and your clients is one of the best things communication does for your business. Establishing a good rapport means that you are on better terms with someone, which is achievable through effective communication.
Effective communication allows you to be more open with your client, your team, and vice versa. Whether with your team or your clients, building rapport is always easy with active listening, two-way conversation about points of view, and sharing of ideas.
Understanding and giving instructions
There’s no doubt that communication is also a vital part of sending and digesting instructions. When you send instructions, you communicate; when you receive and try to understand instructions, other people communicate with you.
Without effective communication or without using the right words and tone, you will not successfully understand and give instructions.
Product and services promotion
You provide all aspects of communication–from the words written on your company banner to the videos you share on your social media accounts. Good business communication lets you connect with your audience–and allows you to promote your brand. With proper business communication, you can define your product benefits, respond to customer suggestions, and assist if needed. Communicating with your clients is the bridge of moving your ideas to users–building relationships, and later on, increasing sales.
Market needs assessment
Imagine this: If McDonalds has only cheeseburgers on its menu for the rest of our life–would it reach its maximum sales capacity? Thanks to indirect communication like surveys and market research, we can now analyze what our customer wants. Analyzing what gives value to your clients is essential for the growth of your business. With this form of communication, we can identify the needs of our customers–and even innovate and improve our current services.
Pitching of ideas
How would you even send the message of your idea to your team or clients without communicating with them? There are so many ways to pitch ideas through different forms of communication, including slideshow presentations, written notes, and speaking.
Sales
Sales refer to activities related to selling your products and services. And communication is a big part of these activities. Effective communication helps your clients understand your goal and the product you offer, giving them reasons to buy from you or acquire your services. On the other hand, it helps you elaborate further on why they need your products or services, which affects your customer’s buying decisions. Proper communication channels and effective communication strategies can help you win clients and eventually increase your sales.
Agreement discussion
Agreement discussion requires both spoken and written types of communication. You need a written one where you and your client/ teammates will sign, and you need to explain whatever your agreement is all about verbally.
However, it is crucial that you properly communicate the details of your agreements with people to avoid future conflicts and misunderstandings. Clear explanations of terms in an agreement help both sides understand how the contract they are signing will work. With proper communication, you and the people you are working with can digest what’s inside the agreement well— the rules and the consequences of actions that you will take within the scope of your contract with them.
Training & development
If you want your business to grow, you should also allow your employees to succeed. And for them to grow, they need to undergo training.
Communication plays an essential role in your team’s training and development. Your people can learn new things through listening to mentors and watching training videos which are also a type of communication. On the other hand, if your people can express themselves through communication, they will grow.
Productivity increase
A McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) study shows that teams who communicate effectively may increase their productivity by as much as 25%.
Since communication directly influences the behavior of people and the way they perform, it becomes essential if you want to improve your productivity.
Employee assessment
Every HR personnel can’t perform an employee assessment without communicating with them or seeing how they communicate. You can let your employees know what you observe about their performance through communication. In contrast, your employees can express what they think about their work as well. Proper communication enables both parties to exchange feedback and provides more room for improvement.
Ways to effectively communicate with your team and customers
If you are struggling to communicate with your team and customers effectively, here are some recommendations for you:
Sharing online files and documents
As technology rises, most workplaces also started to implement online documents for their teams to communicate and collaborate efficiently.
In addition to the use of PDFs for sharing and collaborating, many organizations have integrated a client portal into their workflow. It serves as a secure online platform where businesses can interact with their clients, share documents, and facilitate communication seamlessly.
Read More: Maximize Team Collaboration With the Help of These Powerful Tools
And one of the most used formats of the online documents they use is the PDF or Portable Document format. Most people prefer using this format for sharing because it can be used and opened both online and offline. You can also share PDFs via links making it more convenient! On top of that, it’s also incredible that when you share a file in PDF format, the design and images don’t change or move.
Pro tip: For effective team communication and collaboration, use PlatoForms PDF Workflow. PDF Workflow by PlatoForms allows you to complete and submit PDF forms online in different stages with your team.
Email messages
It’s been years since emailing started, but it’s still an effective way to communicate with your team and clients. In fact, email platforms have innovated email features, allowing us to attach files, put images, use emojis, and even insert gifs in our email messages.
With that said, it is still one of the best professional ways to reach out to your clients and team.
Text message
Need to reach out to people from your team instantly? Text messages would help you immediately send messages and instructions to your team and clients without accessing the internet. This means of communication is easy to use and has higher open and engagement rates than any other communication software.
Face to face huddle
Huddles allow you and your team to work together and get to know each other. During huddles, you can share the challenges you face on your given tasks, and your team can do the same. With that said, you can establish rapport with them. Regular huddles will also help you increase productivity as you become more open to giving and receiving help.
Other communication platforms
Aside from the type of communication stated above, you can also use other messaging communication platforms to communicate effectively with your team. We use Slack and Zoho in our team, but you can also try Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more.
Communicate effectively through online PDF forms
Online PDF forms will allow you to communicate with your team and clients through the effective sharing of information. You can use online PDF forms to send documents like client agreements, new memorandums, clearance forms, etc, without worrying about messed-up formatting.
If you wish to submit your PDF forms online, you must convert them to online fillable forms first, and you can do that with PlatoForms.
