Nowadays, the world of business communication is different from 20 years ago in many aspects. A few decades ago, communication was entirely different in terms of frequency, audience and style. The evolution of communication means it is easier than ever to get in touch with someone, but it can also lead to miscommunication and things being lost in translation. Therefore, in this article we provide tips on how to effectively communicate in the digital age.
Prioritize communication
The increase in communication technology is accompanied by an increase in the number of messages. Therefore, it might be hard to keep up with all the communication that is coming your way. However, prioritizing your communication is an investment that will pay off. When your responses are quick, you come across as involved and interested. This will benefit the attitude of those you are communicating with. Luckily, technology is also available to help structure communication. For example, the business platform of triggre.com can come with a customer portal. In this portal, contracts, orders, invoices and deliveries can easily be managed. This leads to efficient communication, since every important aspect of the process is involved in one portal. Click here if you want to receive more information about this business platform.
Communicate as clear as possible
Nobody wants to receive lengthy emails with way too much information. Instead, it is important to try to communicate as clearly as possible. In a lot of cases this means a message should be short. However, sometimes this is not possible. In these cases, try to make the message as uncluttered as possible. This can be achieved by making use of headlines, bold parts and short sentences. Another way to prevent your message from being too long, is to insert a link on which the receivers of the message can click if they are interested in more information. This way, you balance between providing the complete picture and not being too lengthy in your messages.
Tone is still important
Although communication has become more informal, there is still a need to watch your tone in your messages. For example, you don’t want to approach a new potential client in the same way as you approach your long-valued employee. It might be useful to set up a format for communicating to potential clients. This saves you time struggling to find the perfect tone each time you reach out to a potential client. Also, it ensures everyone in your company approaches clients in the same way, which signals a professional attitude.
Digital communication isn’t everything
Although the digital age has brought us many benefits in simplifying communication, it cannot replace face-to-face communication altogether. People still value speaking to a real person, so your schedule should leave room for that. Real-life communication involves way less noise and delay. Also, digital communication sometimes leads to misunderstandings, that will happen way less in real life. A business should be aware of that and invest in real-life communication as the cherry on the cake of digital communication.
