Playing the communication game

Communication is something we all do every day, yet we often get it so very wrong

I’ve been involved in IT for around 30 years and in that time, I think I’ve learnt a lot about communications. I’m not talking just the technical side, I’m referring to the person-to-person and business-to-business side. Regardless of who we are and what we do, I believe good, clear communication is one of the foundations of a successful business. It’s a process that needs to be continually refined and tuned as the people we deal with change. It’s also not a case of one form of communication fits all people either. I believe there are three distinct areas we deal with in our IT reseller/consulting business: internal communications, client communications and vendor communications.

Let’s look at vendor and distributor communications first. I’ve worked with many vendors and distributors over the years and am yet to find one who really communicates in the way I expect them to. They all try to do the right thing, but for themselves, not necessarily us.

An example is a number of our vendor reps want us to complete a business plan according to their template on a regular basis. The idea is with this they’ll understand our business and be able to help us to achieve our goals better. The problem is that each vendor rep wants us to complete THEIR plan in THEIR way. This takes time – time away from doing what we are trying to do, which is to sell more products and services to our customers. We have our own business plans as to where we’re going and how we’ll get there. We’re happy to share those with the people we trust and our aim is to build that type of relationship with our vendors and distributors. The vendor rep is the person who will represent you within that vendor. Having them onside and making them look good helps your cause to a major extent. Once you’ve gotten to that level with that person, things work much smoother. Once you get the two-way trust with the vendor rep, you can then work with them to understand the impact their processes have on your business. The business plan they want you to complete becomes something that happens over a short update meeting, almost without thinking about them – all because you’ve been able to establish clear communications with this vendor rep.

When the vendor rep moves on, we have to start all over again. Most vendors don’t have a good CRM system that allows the relationship to be tracked at the level that we work with people. That’s often a challenge for both sides as they come up to speed with the new people. From my side of the fence, I call it vendor training. Changing a rep is often good in some ways. We’ve had some vendor reps who’ve been all talk and no action, while others work quietly behind the scenes to get things done and help you achieve results. Often a change in the rep gives you a chance to really achieve a higher level of communication with the vendor. All in all, I think vendors need to understand that changing things around really rattles the SMB IT consultants. We work on a personal trust basis moreso than many of the larger resellers and rely on the person-to-person relationship.

What about client communications? The principle that we try to work on here is transparency. We all have issues from time to time in business, both internally and with the things we do with the clients. By being open and transparent with the client we can improve the level of trust we have with them. Often we’ll plan with a client a certain budget for a project. At the end of the project if we don’t spend the entire budget, we work with them to determine what better use they can put any remaining funds. That might include spending it on non-IT projects. Often, the client understands we’re really interested in the success of their business and not just in taking their money. That we would be willing to put their success ahead of our own gain, has proven time and time again to keep customers loyal to us. It also earns us more referral business than most, too.

What about the times you mess up? I know of many in this industry who use jargon to cover up their own mess and the customer starts to distrust firstly that reseller, and then the entire industry. Where we’ve made a mistake, we aim to come clean to the client and at the same time resolve the problem and make amends. We’ve had new clients who look at this with some degree of scepticism as they’ve not had it before. They suspect some ulterior motive. The plain truth of it is simple. Keep client communications clear and simple, free of jargon and they will trust you.

It might seem that internal communications is the easiest of the lot, but I believe it’s actually harder than either of the above. Internal communications should already have a degree of trust that’s implicit in an organisation. In my view, most suffer from miscommunication. The idea that the boss has that’s not clearly relayed to the team can cause major issues not only for the team within your business but also all external people you work with, client and suppliers alike. Even putting things in writing with written business plans can be misunderstood by new staff or those not in tune with a particular process or project. Regular team meetings are essential to keep a lid on this type of miscommunication. The boss being transparent is also important here. If you’re going through a hard time and you trust your team then share it with them. They may have ideas that surprise you on how to solve issues you hadn’t even considered raising with them. There is the danger however of being too transparent. This can be unsettling for some who aren’t used to your openness and your desire to involve them in the problem and the solution. Tread carefully here, but as you build your team, the results will be worth it.

Good communication extends much further than the few items I’ve suggested. I hope I’ve shared some of the things I’ve found have worked over the years so you too may benefit. I only ask if you find something that works, share it with others so they too may benefit from your experience. This type of “pay it forward” attitude along with the transparency mentioned above will reap great rewards in the long term.