Effective methods of communication within your business can not only give you a professional appearance to customers but improve productivity and communication within your company, between employees, and with clients as well. To stay at the top of your game as a business in the digital age you need to ensure you are keeping up with the latest communications technology and techniques. But how can you do this? How can you better the way you communicate?
Keep it Professional
An important rule to remember when communicating with clients/customers - be friendly but keep it professional. Sticking with a formal demeanour during business interactions can reinforce the image of the business, whether communications be verbal, written or even in person. Another key point to link to this is to ensure that all interactions are addressed with the same brand personality in mind, customers/clients should know what to expect from communications with your business.
However, you should remember that customers are real people and so should be treated and interacted with as such and so having an unscripted conversation with them is going to elicit a better reaction than a rigid and impersonal communication.
Update Your Tools
When it comes to communications, face-to-face interactions have become second best to technology. In a world of smartphones businesses have to stay on top of these developments to maintain relevance. Having a landline is simply not going to do it anymore- you need to modernise your software.
Investing in a multi-line phone system is a wise choice when modernising your operations. These phones condense multiple phone lines into a single handset and allow multiple units within your company to work from this singular line, diminishing the issues of confusing clients and employees with different numbers and extensions. These multi-line phone systems vary in models, some are suited to smaller businesses, with less line capabilities, but others can cater to large companies and manage more. They work by having advanced features to improve customer service, giving callers a professional impression of your business, these features include…
- Call waiting
- Personalised voicemail for different lines
- Transferring and forwarding calls
- Conference calling
Modern multi-line phone systems operate through VoIP- voice over internet protocol technology. This means phone calls work over your business internet connection as opposed to generic phone lines or networks- and without compromising call quality. This system brings landlines into the 21st century, combining the capabilities of smartphones and landlines. A VoIP phone has many benefits that blow your regular communications technology out of the water, allowing businesses to…
- Make low cost, high quality calls to anywhere
- Conference call
- Transform voicemails to email
- Conference call
- Forward calls to a smartphone or other device
Internal communications can also be boosted with the help of software, private messaging and group chats, which are often included in your VoIP phone package if the provider offers ‘Unified Communications’. Through this, employees can streamline projects and work tasks and collaboration work can be made more efficient, enabling people to ask questions as and when they arise, and saving time by preventing the need for continuous meetings.
Unified communication software is easier than email as it prevents information being lost in lengthy threads and making communications across teams and departments sleeker; while encouraging higher productivity. Business messaging platforms are especially useful for companies with multiple geographical locations or time zones, there is no need to schedule meetings or calls at a time or date that suits everyone, simply drop a message and they can reply at a convenient time to them.
Backup Previous Interactions
Effective client-employee interactions should include a sense of familiarity, so your business should take care when communicating with customers and have a background of their previous wants and need to make them feel valued and improve their overall experience with your business.
Backing up emails, or other methods of communication, can not only provide legal evidence if it is ever needed but can provide you with details that can be useful. This wouldn’t be possible if your server was to malfunction or go down, causing all data to be lost. A backup will keep them safe, giving you peace of mind by preparing for the worst. This can also be done through leading VoIP and CRM systems.
Use What's Available to You
With just shy of 3.5 billion active social media users, why not utilize these platforms to transform your communications? Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are populated by business as well as everyday users, from companies using the sites to advertise, reach new customers and communicate directly with their audiences, it would be a waste to miss out on such a powerful and low-cost option for your business. Feedback, information, questions and complaints can all be provided through social media channels while also providing premium customer service, with customers feeling as though they are getting the answers they require.
