Communicate. Collaborate. Elevate.

"Lack of communication is the key to any successful relationship going wrong" –Pepa.

I was reminded of this saying yesterday when I spent close to two and a half hours dealing with 5 different people at a call center. I was just trying to add one new product to an existing account. It took the fifth person to figure things out but the rest were terrible communicators. They were not listening to what I was saying and kept on repeating back the wrong information. To make things worse, one representative became aggressive and rude. Not good!

For me, like most people, time is precious so if you waste mine you are costing me energy, availability to produce and money. This has happened on many occasions with this company over the past few years. I can only conclude that they cannot be bothered to train all their staff to be strong, concise, consistent and effective communicators. This shows a glaring lack of respect for their customers which will certainly result in the loss of business including mine. However, this company is not alone in having less than stellar communicators. It happens everywhere from coffee shops, to big box stores, to restaurants and airlines.

For a planet full of different methods and platforms for communications including; phoning, texting, emailing, instant messaging, Skype, WhatsApp etc, we still manage to miscommunicate spectacularly. That is because many individuals, institutions, and corporations don’t invest enough in making sure that: “Concise message sent with clarity = message successfully received.” On the personal side, it’s a relationship killer and on the business side, it will eventually hurt your bottom line and your reputation.

As a communications/performance coach, I take great pleasure in helping people and organizations learn how to improve their communications skills. It’s an amazing, positive feeling to know that there are those out there who really, truly desire to be better speakers and listeners. Anytime anyone wants to become a better communicator, there is more hope for a marked improvement in all relationships whether it’s with your partner, your customers, your staff or your community. To do so you must use (amongst other skill sets and qualities) what I consider being the four pillars of good communications: active listening, symphonic observation, emotional intelligence and common sense.

What a wonderful world it would be if we all made the effort to truly understand what other people are saying and equally make sure what we impart is clearly understood by those around us.

For more information on individual or group communications workshops please email [email protected]