The importance of conversation

As I started reading the latest book of Robin Sharma “The Everyday Hero Manifesto”, one of the chapters in his book speaks about the importance of “Conversation”.

He stated in his book: “…Business is a conversation. Lose the conversation with your teammates, customers and suppliers and you’ll lose your business”.

This part struck my attention and how true it is in our lives and especially in the hospitality business.

Conversation is a key aspect in our day to day communication with others. It is all about connecting, exchanging thoughts and ideas and listening to one another. People learn about the other’s intention through conversation by observing their nonverbal cues such as tone of voice, facial and body expressions which relay one’s true emotions and sentiments about the subject being discussed.?

Rule number one of having a conversation, it is not supposed to be one-way but rather about two individual parties exchanging words, ideas and intentions about one or several matters.?If it is a one-way conversation, it becomes a monologue. We need to try to achieve a balance between talking and listening in any exchange of views.

Continuous conversation between two or more parties is a sign of maturity as it reflects their intentions to either avoid conflict or reach an agreement.?I am a true believer that any challenges and opportunities can be tackled through conversation.?The worst case scenario would be both parties agreeing to disagree on a certain topic.

Needless to say that learning to have a conversation starts early at home within the family. It enables family members to express their needs and concerns to each other. Open and honest communication creates an atmosphere that allows everyone to express their differences as well as love and admiration for one another.?

And this skill is later extended to their business environments and relationships. If this skill is neglected, there would be no interaction among the family members.??

Regrettably, this is where social media plays a huge role.?Nowadays everyone stays connected on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter ….etc and neglect real-life interactions.?

Our communication has become a kaleidoscopic display of emoji’s, meaningless collection of words and numbers put together nonsensically and lots of useless abbreviations.

Face to face conversations have literally become extinct especially among the younger generation.

?On the other hand, communicating in a business environment takes on new meaning as technology continues to advance. No longer can you assume that communication indicates a face-to-face conversation or a chat over the telephone. ?In this day, many communicate by email, text message and through social networking sites. However, this is not always the ideal way to express yourself when it comes to increasing sales or dealing with other aspects of the business.

Sometimes, verbal communication is important to the progress of your business and to feeling the pulse of your customers and guests. That how hospitality service can offer a personalised service, by offering a nice warm welcome, using guest names and anticipate guests needs through conversation.

Being able to communicate with another person is one of the many gifts that have been granted to us and we should be grateful and never underestimate the power of this skill whether in our personal or business environment.

In my humble opinion, verbal communication is essential as it enables us not only to pick up on the guests’ nonverbal cues and body language but also to eliminate misunderstandings, respond to objections and build relationships and most important to engage and connect.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this important topic and how we can drive it among family members and the team.