24 January
Simple Stories That Help Us To Be More Successful
When engaging with business owners for the first time our Icon Business Advisers often get remarks such as ‘my staff just don’t listen, they make so many mistakes and I have to correct them, do I need to tell them everything’.
I guess the problem is as a business owner you have been through most of the disciplines as the business grew and probably developed a lot of the processes yourself. Its second nature to you and you know intuitively what you want done and how certain things should be approached.
As a business owner you have to be able to COMMUNICATE precisely to ensure your message or instruction is received correctly. To just assume all your clients and prospects know ‘what you do’ or assuming your staff know ‘what to say’ is lazy and unprofessional and ultimately will cost you business.
As an example, if your personal culture as a business owner is excellent service then you MUST ensure that all the people who work for you buy into that culture and understand that they may need to go the extra mile to be consistent with the cultural message.
Often business owners are so engrossed in the business that they forget to communicate clear messages to their staff and customers and inevitably mistakes are made.
I guess this is also true in our private lives – as the following story demonstrates.
The Man in the Shower
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you £500 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
After a few seconds, Bob hands her £500 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,…
“Who was that at the door?”
“It was Bob the next-door neighbour,” she replies.
“Great!” the husband says, “Did he say anything about the £500 he owes me?”
Moral of the story:
You need to share critical information with your peers and staff to avoid damaging or embarrassing results.
A lot of business owners are poor at communicating internally, but more importantly communicating to their customers and potential clients or worse still not communicating their marketing message to their own staff.
Ensure that information is shared and communicated in a professional and clear manner. Good communication with the staff will also motivate them, especially if you congratulate them or recognise their positive attitude and response to this.
In fact, the worst type of business owner/manager is the one that stays in his office, will not engage with his staff and rants if things go wrong. The one person that will suffer most from poor communication is YOU the business owner. Motivate your staff by behaving as a leader (not a tyrant), take time to listen and share ideas.
So, ensure you share all critical information with your staff and clients – do not just assume your staff know what to do if you have not communicated with them and just as important ensure your prospects and clients know what you do.
For candid and reliable business advice talk to us at Icon Business Solutions, contact us now for a chat over coffee.
