The Secrets To Conquer The Business World Business And Marketing Education
View(s):- Sri Lankan Practitioner And Global Perspectives Expert Opinion
As communicating effectively is vital to so many of the things we do and essential for success in the business world besides effectively and efficiently managing teams, we need to master the art of communication.
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business communication can be either internal or external. Managers and team members can channel it through a wide variety of mediums including print, oral, and electronics.
In my humble opinion, “Good communication is effective communication” and as a leader, you should follow the principles and ethics of communication.
The principles of communication are the principle of clarity, the principle of attention, the principle of feedback, the principle of informality, the principle of consistency, the principle of timeliness and the principle of adequacy.
THE ETHICS OF COMMUNICATION
The ethics of communication should envisage the following;
You should communicate fact-based messages truthfully, honestly,accurately and completely, to the point, in brief, specific, segmented and with reason. These are essential to the integrity of communication. You should respect the individual or group with whom you communicate and give them the freedom to express themselves. You should also respect diverse perspectives and dissenting opinions. You should also tolerate others. At no time you should offend, humiliate or provoke others.You should be able to make decisions. You need to be concise, considered, concrete and courteous. Finally, make the facts and resources on which the communication relies accessible to others.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTISING ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity.
Communication is the cornerstone of our Profession. To be effective at it; whether selling a Product or Service, trying to motivate, convince or persuade a group to act favourably to your communication objectives; or getting your team aligned- these communication principles should help focus your thoughts into something powerful and useful.
MAJOR MISTAKES MADE BY THE TRAINERS AND MANAGERS AND THE WAYS TO SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOMING THEM
Most of the untrained sales professionals ask a closed-ended question right at the beginning of their Presentation. In other words,if you ask a closed-ended question you expect a “yes” or “no” answer. If the customer says no to your question then that is the end of your sales or business call.
Hence, after creating interest, you should always start the sales presentation with an “open-ended question”.
Your presentation should have the following aspects incorporated into it; Introduction (I), Content (C), and Conclusion (C). This is known as the “I-C-C” approach for presentation.
During the presentation, you must have “patient listening (skills)”to continue the discussion with your customers.
In between your presentation or soon after your presentation your customers will have concerns and questions which you need to resolve and clarify to them. Sometimes your customers may ask you “multiple questions”. Generally, the sales or marketing Professionals try to answer the questions in the order of the questions being asked by the customers. But, as per the “Professional Communication Skills”, you must “paraphrase” the questions and ask the customers whether you have understood their questions. If they say, “yes” you must ask the customers for their preferences on the order of questions to be answered by you. For example, “Well doctor, based on our discussion, you have a price as a limiting factor to prescribe our brand and concerns on availability andlong-term safety data. Let me address your concerns and what is the order of your preference of your questions that need to be resolved by me. It will be my pleasure to provide the answers to try our brand” and thank the customer for accepting your request and then resolve their concerns and “handle objections”, accordingly and successfully.
Finally, you must summarise your discussion and close the discussion by asking for orders or prescriptions or business.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GROUP COMMUNICATION SKILLS ( GCS )
Sometimes you may have a “group presentation” and you will have a specific number of doctors or other customers. Then you will have a “ multiple doctors and multiple concerns” scenario. In this instance, you do not need to panic. After listening to their concerns and paraphrasing, simply find out from the group members their preference on the doctors’ concerns to be resolved and do it accordingly. Otherwise, you can inform them that you will resolve the concerns based on the customers’ seniority get their consent and resolve the concerns accordingly. Ethicality and accuracy of your information are prerequisites for the practice of “Successful Professional Communication” in the business world.
CONCLUSION
Finally, resolve to always be learning. While some things remain the same, how and what we communicate is constantly evolving. Hence, read lots, talk to your mentors, and never assume you know everything when it comes to good business communication.For your efforts, test different formats and styles to see what works best when connecting with your unique audience and always be open to feedback. You may consider following the“Principles of Communication” and adhere to the “Ethics of communication” to reach the “pinnacle of success in your Business career”.
If you could communicate well, you may even conquer the business world.
Keep Sailing! Keep Sparkling! Keep Smiling!
Maruthai Ravindhiran is awell-experienced and reputed trainer and a Specialist and Practitioner of “Professional Communication, Group Communication and Presentation Skills,having over 35 years of versatile experience in the fields of Education, Marketing, Sales, Health, Training and Development, Administration, Management including Change, Crisis and Conflict Management and Legal and Company Secretarial Services, in Sri Lanka.
He has worked for a subsidiary of the Hall of Fame, USA based Fortune 500 Multinational Pharma Giant in the past, as the Business and Marketing Head of its Human Vaccines Division.
Ravindhiran is willing to provide more information to our younger generation as a “voluntary service” and clarify queries, resolve concerns and assist you in overcoming your fears, stress and anxiety and enlighten you on Professional Communication, Group Communication and Presentation Skills by sharing his knowledge, skills, wisdom, experience and expertise in the respective fields and transform you as a Marvellous and Miraculous Communicators, to bring glory and honour to our Motherland.
Ravindhiran can be contacted via mravindhiran@gmail.com
(Weekdays and Saturdaysfrom
4.00 p.m to 5.00 p.m).
HitAd.lk is the best and biggest mobile phone market in Sri Lanka, and we guarantee you will find what you need here from our extensive listing of mobile phones for sale in Sri Lanka. Whether it’s a budget-priced smartphone for communication, or higher end features with advanced connectivity, there are many different options from which to choose from on our site!