Building Bridges of Communication

Home
>
Business Management
>
Building Bridges of Communication

Building Bridges of Communication

Building a 'bridge of understanding' between parties is fundamental if your business communication is to succeed.

If you are a consultant to a client, or a salesperson attempting a closer relationship with your customer, here are five techniques that help achieve just that.

1. Eliciting clients' views and perspective on issues.

The consultant or salesperson should not be the final arbiter of what the client or customer should think.

It is invaluable, both as a dialogic tool and as a way of building rapport, for you to ask the other person how they see the situation: "What are your thoughts about what we are trying to achieve here? What are some of the solutions or approaches you've thought about?"

2. Helping clients think aloud

In any good business partnership, both parties participate in the thinking process.

"Have a think about what options the team has available... what ones most appeal to you? Don't throw out any ideas just yet - no matter how weird they might seem now, you'd be surprised at how workable they might be later." "What are the implications of some of these approaches to other teams or the project?"

3. Summarise the client's views and test your understanding of them

You really need to understand the other's perspective in any communication process.

The most useful tool to achieve this is 'playing back' what the client has said, in order to ensure that both they feel you have listened and you feel confident in your understanding of what they said. "Let me summarise what I've heard and see if I have it correct..."

4. React to how the client feels as well as the business implications

Business relationships are made up, primarily, of people. People with frailties, aspirations, achievements and fears. Failure to deal with the myriad emotions of clients will lead to failure, of both the relationship and the project.

The more successfully the relationship handles personal 'ups and downs', as well as the feelings of both parties, the stronger the bridge of communication is built.

Wise consultants and salespeople encourage their clients and customers to express their views.

5. Allow the client (and yourself) time to pause and reflect

We all have a tendency to want to be seen as an 'expert' in our field. So we all jump in and answer a question straight away, hoping to both impress our client with our ready supply of wisdom and allay our fears that they will 'find us out'.

In reality, no one knows all there is to know about a subject. But it is the rare and wonderful client who openly acknowledges to you their failure to understand fully or have a mapped out set of tactics for any given situation.

Allowing the client (and yourself) time to pause and reflect on a situation or question allows greater opportunity for bonds of mutual understanding to develop. The discussion will become more thoughtful, less reactively spontaneous (not all 'first thoughts' are good ones), and calmer.

Unless you are fighting fires, or taming lions, a calmer, more measured approach to a project always pays the greatest dividends.

When you match consumer psychology with effective communication styles you get a powerful combination. Lee Hopkins can show you how to communicate better for better business results. At Hopkins-Business-Communication-Traini ng.com you can find the secrets to communication success.

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call (AP)

AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.

Illinois House on verge of impeaching Blagojevich (AP)

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.

Toxic coal ash piling up in ponds in 32 states (AP)

AP - Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a practice the federal government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has left unregulated.

Cheney warns against impulsive action in Iraq (AP)

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney, warning against impulsive U.S. action in Iraq, says that whether the struggling nation backslides into a cycle of violence partly depends on how President-elect Barack Obama decides to pull out American forces.

Obama to finalize national security team Friday (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.

Mini Dynasty: Tebow leads Gators past Oklahoma (AP)

AP - The game defied expectations. Tim Tebow fulfilled them. He rescued No. 1 Florida, running through and throwing over No. 2 Oklahoma for a 24-14 victory Thursday night that gave the Gators their second BCS championship in three years.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens (AP)

AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

Most Asian markets fall ahead of US jobs report (AP)

AP - Most Asian stock markets fell Friday amid more corporate gloom and worries that a key U.S. jobs report could show recession in the world's largest economy is deepening.

Obama: Congress must act boldly and now on economy (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama implored Congress on Thursday to "act boldly and act now" to fix an economy growing perilously weaker. Democratic and Republican lawmakers complained about his tax policies, letting Obama know they intend to place their own stamp on the economic recovery effort.

Critics' final answer: `Slumdog' wins 5 awards (AP)

AP - The critics have spoken, and "Slumdog Millionaire" is their final answer.

World waits on jobs data as recession weighs (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.

U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Panel steps up criticism of Treasury: report (Reuters)

Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

EU seeks gas supply return after deal (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe sought a swift restoration of gas supplies on Friday after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a pricing dispute with Kiev.

Citi backs measure to help avoid foreclosures (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama team amending financial rescue package: report (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Qaeda Pakistan leader believed dead: U.S. official (Reuters)

Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.

Gaza toll mounts as UN Security Council urges immediate truce (AFP)

AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

Hopes for Russia gas deal after EU claims breakthrough (AFP)

AFP - European states deprived of Russian gas amid freezing weather were Friday hoping for a resumption of deliveries after the European Union claimed a breakthrough in the crisis between Moscow and Kiev.