Effective Business is about Effective Communication

Have you heard the saying; "Build a better mouse trap and the market will beat a path to your door."?

Unfortunately this seems to be the axiom most business owners live by. I say unfortunately because it simply isn't true.

You see, if your market doesn't know about your product, how do you expect them to buy from you? Worse still, if they don't know about you, how do you expect to survive in business?

You need to firstly tell them you exist, then you need to tell them what you do, and finally you need to tell them how you can solve their problems. But business is seldom so straight cut. Chances are you are not the only one who can solve their problems; you will invariably find yourself in competition for their business.

Now most successful business people know that winning the business can easily be achieved by undercutting the competition's price, but that isn't a sound long-term strategy to adopt. It is probably the surest way to go broke.

So where does this leave you if you decide not to compete on price?

You have to learn to communicate with your market. Really communicate.

What is effective communication, then? And what does it take to become an effective business communicator?

When you think of it, the effectiveness of your communication can be determined by the response you get. Communication is all about achieving understanding. And to judge whether you have achieved the level of understanding you are aiming for with your target market, you need to listen or take note of the responses they give. If your message isn't achieving the desired result, you need to combine words and actions to correct the misunderstandings. Some refer to this as ‘educating your market'.

Education is an important aspect of business because when you think of it, you can't tell someone something they can't understand. And it goes without saying that you, the business person, must first understand what you want to say yourself before you communicate with your target market. You therefore need to have a sound grasp of the jargon they use, the concepts they understand and the subjects they are interested in. Words have different meaning among different cultural groups and generations. For instance, Americans would have a very different understanding of the words ‘flat', ‘boot' or ‘lift'. It would be better to use ‘apartment', ‘trunk' or ‘elevator' if you were aiming your message at them. Remember too, that the meaning of words can change from one generation to another. Take the word ‘gay' for instance. It no longer refers to someone who is happy and carefree. Years ago the word ‘awful' meant to be full of awe whereas today it means horrible. Quite a different meaning, I'm sure you will agree.

All this makes the business communicator's job difficult. But all is not lost. Fortunately there are some rules (or guidelines) that are designed to help you navigate the often rough waters we call Public Relations. Pay attention to them and you are half way there.

The 7 Rules are:
1.Credibility. You must believe in what you are communicating and your audience must share that belief.
2.Context. Your message must align with reality.
3.Content. Your message must mean something to your audience. It must be compatible with their belief system and values.
4.Clarity. Your message must be easy to understand.
5.Continuity and consistency. Your overall message must be repeated over and over again. It is a never-ending process.
6.Channels. You should make use of established communication channels that your audience use and respect.
7.Capability of your audience. Your communication needs to take heed of your audience's capability to receive and interpret it.