Communication – does it suck these days?

People don’t communicate the way they used to… but is that good or bad. For me I find some of it down right rude. I’m not saying you can reply to every Facebook invite personally, or event you have been invited to but maybe I can get some feedback on common decency.

For example, recently someone bought a $4,000 product from me. We got through stage 1 of implementation, but they still hadn’t paid. I texted and wrote to them a couple of times and they promised on 20 May, so I…in dumb good faith kept providing the service and here it is 12 July and still no payment. I’ve made contact three times but no reply, nothing…then recently I bump into them at a business event and they are like: ‘Oh great to see you, hey I’ll come and chat with you before this is over’. and of course they didn’t, so it prompted me to write this blog, because frankly I am sick of it.

What’s with communication? You have a party at your house, you put in for wine and food, invite your friends and some don’t even reply.

Most marriages and business partnerships break down because of lack of good communication, so maybe we can get some input and get things back on a polite and decent way forward. So here are some tips for good communication:

• If you owe someone money and you can’t pay, then communicate with them, pay them what you can but keep them informed. Even most debt collectors will go easy on people who communicate the situation, even if it’s not going to be a great outcome for them.
• With friends, always call or text them back if they want something….don’t leave them hanging. Let them know where you are at.
• Skype – when you are in a conversation with someone, don’t just go away, have a coffee, go to the toilet or do something else…say… I’ll be back in 5 or whatever… nothing is worse than hanging on Skype wondering where the other person has gone or if they are ever coming back.
• Don’t tell your spouse or partner you will be there at 6 and turn up at 8. That’s a no go. Give them a quick call or text and tell them you will be there soon enough.

The thing I always say to people is ‘keep me in the loop’ or ‘keep me up to date’. Let’s face it sometimes things take longer than what we expect, but communication keeps us in the loop so at least we know what is going on.

If you have any great tips on how to communicate better, then add them as comments to this blog. Treat others with a little more respect than you would normally think of and it goes a long way… and lastly…for the salespeople reading this: Tell people what will happen after they buy from you, that you won’t run away, that there is an implementation of the product or service and what to expect and call them or email them and find out how they are doing. Phoning is very 1970’s but 10 times more effective than email.

Happy communicating.