A former chairman of a major corporation recently gave us some sage advice. He started off with a question: "Jeff and Rich, do you know what 'CEO' stands for?" Before we could respond, he blurted, "Not what you think! It stands for 'Customers', 'Employees' and 'Owners'." From there, he proceeded to describe how important it is to communicate effectively with each of these stakeholders in your business.
His advice was music to our ears. We couldn’t agree more. Business is filled with risk, but with effective business communication you can avoid internal, commercial and financial risks. In fact, with communication flowing, you can actually create unforeseen opportunities.
Consider these pointers:
"C" is for Customers
How well do you know the needs of your customers? How well does your customer know your goals, capabilities and plans? We hope your answer to both questions is "Really well!" In our experience, communication with customers is critical for success. If you keep your customers tuned in to your business, you’re more apt to understand your customers’ wants and needs and to be able to satisfy them, and then they’re more apt to do business with you instead of the competition.
"E" is for Employees
Communicating with employees is essential for success. All too commonly, people assume that because their business is "small," employees know what’s in the mind of management. Au contraire!
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