Category: Communication Skills

As your business grows, you will find that the time your employees spend interacting with customers is growing to grow substantially as well. In order to keep in line with what you need your bottom line to be and to ensure customer satisfaction, you will want to expand on the various ways you assist your customers.

Why Speed Is Of Importance

Most customers are going to lose faith in a company that is giving them the run around when it comes to getting their questions and concerns answered. Even if you are not really giving them the run around, they might feel as though you are if they have to be transferred to one department after another, explaining their story all over again each time, just to have one simple problem addressed.

Use Digital Technology

The use of CTI integration, computer telephony integration, is an important use of your time and your customers time. It will speed up the process of getting to the bottom of the needs of the customer, while freeing up a lot of your employees time. They can be busy handling other things that a digital solution cannot do on its own.

Upgraded Emails

The use of emails might seem like something that should be a thing of the past, but there is nothing that beats solid written communication. It allows the customer or client to reference details again as needed. Of course, thanks to technology and many advancements, you can now add calendar appointments, documents and spreadsheets, and pictures to any email that you send.

Video Conferencing

This is a great way to have a more personal approach with some of your clients, while still remaining completely professional. While many would still prefer a face-to-face meeting, that is not always an option, especially when you are trying to work with clients from all over the world. By using the best technology that is offered in the world of video conferencing, you should have little trouble making a very good impression on your clients.

Instant Messaging

While some people may have a hard time adjusting to the fact that what started as a way for young people to communicate online in chat rooms has now made its way into business practices, it is here to stay. According to Forbes, messaging allows instant, direct, and visual conversations to take place without too much trouble. Also, it gives everyone that chance to hold several conversations at once and no one would be the wiser. This is great for those who need to make sure that they are able to multi-task in their line of work.

As you can now see, there are many ways in which you are now going to be able to effectively communicate with those whom you do business with. All you have to do is dive right in, embrace the changes in the world of technology, and reap the financial benefits. You should notice that your business is thriving from this in no time at all.

 

Having to come up with a pitch and present it to potential clients has always been a difficult task to do, much less pull off successfully. But it can be incredibly discouraging when you do not get any kind of interest after working for so many hours on your pitch. Do not fret, for all is not lost. All you will have to do is make some adjustments to your presentation style in order to get people more interested in what you are trying to offer them. In this article, we will give you a few tips and tricks on how to capture your audience’s attention and have them listening to you intently from start to finish.

1. Make Sure That You Create a Story for Your Clients

If you have ever been in any type of company meeting, then you may have already witnessed the boring types of presentations. You know the ones: the presenter starts showing you facts and figures, all full of numbers and pie charts and tables and whatnot, all full of details that are prone to making you zone out because those numbers and letters just do not mean anything of significance to you. However, there is another way to get your audience to sit up and listen: try framing your presentation into a story instead. People are much more engaged when you tell them a story. This is because it can arouse emotions in clients. By using emotion, according to PollEverywhere, you can tap into their desires and get them to invest in your offering.

2. Do Not Forget to Use Visuals to Match Your Tale

People remember details much more easily when you present it to them using visuals instead of simply using text. But you should not just put up any drab and boring graphics that you find on the internet, or put up any irrelevant photos that you took during a walk to your office. Instead, you should carefully pick out images that can help explain the abstract idea in your head. Try going for more interesting ones, too. According to a study published in theMalaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, using colorful visuals can help audiences increase their recall of information by up to 77 to 80 percent compared to any data that is given to them in text or sound bites.

3. Try Not to Fill Up All of Your Slides with Walls of Text

Nobody wants to have to spend money on travel and lodging just to attend a presentation where they are expected to stare at the screen for the entire time. In fact, according to some statistics, the average attention span has dropped in the last few years. That is why you need to use images and rely on your speech instead of using the presentation as if they were your note cards.

4. Take Advantage of Your Body Language and Facial Expressions

The way you move can say a lot about your personality, and what you are actually thinking. If you stand too stiffly, you may come across as nervous or robotic. However, if you start waving your arms around too much, you might come across as much too enthusiastic. A smile would really, really help make your onlookers feel like you are trying to make a connection with them. However, smiling too widely might come across the wrong way, making you look a little too eager, or perhaps even a little bit creepy! Try to practice speaking out loud in front of a mirror so that you can see what your face naturally looks like. Then, try to modify your expressions to fit whatever it is you are trying to say.These tips can apply whether you are presenting in front of a small audience, a large audience, or even doing enterprise webcastingby using a system such as BlueJeans.

5. Set Aside Some Time to Study and Practice Your Pitch

Even if you have created the master plan that would put every other presentation to shame, it will be all for naught if you forget your lines when you are actually performing on stage. That is why it is absolutely important for you to rehearse what you want to say at least a few days before you are going to present in front of your audience. If you have stage fright, you may want to ask your family, friends, or co-workers to be your practice audience. Then, ask them for feedback on what you did right, and what parts you could have improved.

Make sure that you try out these tips the next time you have to give a presentation. By the end of it, you should be able to get a lot more interest in your product or service than ever before, all thanks to a wonderfully presented pitch.

Do you have a crisis communications plan in place yet?

“Yes” or “no” are both perfectly acceptable answers here. “Maybe” or “Uh, what?”…not so much.

If you aren’t sure what to do in the event of a serious PR crisis that threatens your organization’s public image, you’re living on borrowed time. Trust is much larger to lose than regain — and, if the lapse is serious enough, you might not have much time to regain it anyway.

“The biggest mistake you can make during a legitimate crisis is to try to navigate your response without a map,” says Rosemary Plorin, a seasoned public relations executive whose crisis communications advice is legendary in the healthcare PR field. “If you don’t yet have a crisis communications plan, you and your team need to put one together, with help from an outside expert if necessary.”

Not sure where to start? These crisis management tips can help you wrap your head around the problem.

1. Have Assets on Standby

The moment a crisis hits, your team needs to spring into action. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 10 a.m. on a Tuesday or 3 a.m. on a Saturday. Here’s where a solid plan – and up-to-date notification tree – are essential. Make sure your early response plan is well oiled, with content production and human assets identified and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

2. Put Your Point People Forward…

…And keep them on message. The importance of clear, consistent messaging can’t be overstated, no matter the nature or tenor of the crisis.

Depending on the size, scope, and geographical reach of your organization, you’ll likely have a few people facing the cameras (or equivalent) during your crisis. These people need to be qualified and trusted in those roles. Everyone else — even if they’re used to discussing your organization’s activities in public — needs to step back and, frankly, shut up. The cost of an off-message outburst far outweighs the benefit of an authoritative face at the dais.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Admit and Own Up to Mistakes

And fast, if warranted.

If you’re really honest with yourself and possess even a perfunctory capacity for self-reflection, you know when you’ve made a mistake. The same logic applies to your organization.

Many crises are exacerbated by stubborn process owners who refuse to own up to clear-cut mistakes. This failure can draw out a crisis, creating a slow-rolling disaster that does more harm to your organization’s reputation. Corporate apologies are often necessary whether it was the CEO or a low level admin at fault.

4. Analyze the Crisis and Response

This falls under the “learn from your mistakes” rubric. You never want to expect another crisis, but it’s foolish not to be prepared. Once the acute phase of the crisis has passed, analyze the sequence of events that led to it, the timeline on which it unfolded, and what went right and wrong with your response. And expect that the crisis will follow you for a good while.  Prepare your team with messages to help them address concerns or questions that come up months or even years after the issue has faded from the spotlight.

Article Contributed by Veronika Tondon

The term ‘business pitch’ has become as popular as the term ‘startup’, in recent times. A pitch is basically a business plan that one presents verbally to the potential investors of the business. A shorter summary of the complete pitch is called the elevator pitch. The startup owner has to clearly explain the business opportunity to the investors, so they can take the most appropriate decision. Here are some steps to create a winning pitch for your business.

1. Time Span

The pitch should be clearly explained to the investors in a short span of time. You should know that you only have a few minutes to sell your business idea. This is a do-or die situation which has to be dealt with utmost composure.

2. Make Your Presentation Realistic

Presenting a realistic picture of the future prospects of the business, must be preferred. You have been running the business with your own funds up until now. So, you have had your share of successes and failures. Your projections must be based on these experiences and must sound absolutely realistic.

3. Savings Attitude

One of the most important qualities of a startup founder is financial control. Having an understanding of where each and every penny is being spent in the business, will add to your brownie points. You have to make the investors know that you have a grip on the business and its operations. They should feel that you are a dependable leader and are passionate about your vision.

4. The Business Opportunity

The most important aspect of pitching for your business is to highlight the business opportunity and how are you going to tap it. Your business is definitely out there to fill the need gaps. But, it is the size of the market and its affinity to the product, that will fetch you the investor’s trust. Highlighting the opportunities and challenges would help you put forth your arguments more assertively.

5. Understanding of The Competition

Having an understanding of the competition is important for every business owner. This understanding has to be showcased well while presenting the business pitch. An in-depth competition analysis must be presented and you must highlight how your product stands out and has better future prospects, as compared to others.

6. Marketing Strategy

Knowing your marketing plan is another very important aspect of pitching well for your business. You are out there to build a market for your products and services. The strategy for the same has to be clearly explained to the investors, so they know how are you going to position the product in the market.

7. Target Audience

Being focused about your business and knowing who exactly you wish to sell to, is important for the business. This lets you earn the investors’ confidence and they know that you are going to reach out to a tangible audience and achieve the desired profitability.

8. Focus

The more focused is your approach the higher will be your chances of getting the desired amount of funding. In your pitch, you need to communicate the precise plan of action, using which you will achieve the desired results. You also need to be specific about the amount of funding you require.

9. Create a multi-level pitch

A multi-level pitch helps you divide the pitch into shorter and longer versions. The shorter versions help in explaining the basics. The longer version helps in explaining the details and how the plan is going to be executed.

10. Get Your Team To Participate

A business leader must always take his team along with him. This adds to the confidence of the audiences. You should encourage team members to participate in the pitch process by planning out the speaking slots for them. A strong team, showcases the ability of the business to grow and provide the desired return to the investors.

Making a successful business pitch to your investors may seem challenging, but using the right approach will surely bring you supporters.

About the Author

Veronika Tondon is business enthusiast. She writes about emerging technologies and opportunities for business. She is working as a Marketing Manager with Invoicera, a leading cloud invoicing solution.