Communications is a complex subsection of business management that cannot be taken seriously enough. Without efficient communications, the links holding your business together begin to break, departments or staff members start to drift from the company line, and customers are at risk of getting lost or confused.

This quick guide will address four key areas of business communications, toll free phone numbers, emails, internal communications and customer response – and touch briefly on how to circulate information, goals and notifications effectively.

Business Communications

Brand management, marketing, public relations, community engagement and event management all fall under business communications. Naturally, these are key to making your system operate smoothly and giving customers and consumers the best possible experience with your business.

As customers would still rather talk to a human expert when making a purchase, having an accessible and reliable phone line, as well as an email service, is of paramount importance.

Phone lines

The first step to managing your business’s communications is to ensure that your company phone line is not only functioning but that it is dependable, memorable, if possible, and cheap or free to call. Obtaining a toll-free number will help with this, making it free for landlines to call you even at long distances. Business phone systems cannot be more useful.

Having a telephone system that allows customers to get quick answers with product queries, service inquiries, or general complaints will speed up the rate at which your company can deal with them while also improving their customer experience. To best cater to customer needs, ensure your phone line is equipped with caller ID and voice mail functions.

Phone lines also enable conference calling, which will be further discussed under ‘Internal Communications’ below.

Emails

Some customers prefer to email or text a business rather than call them or walk into the store or office. When this is the case, they expect a same-day or reasonably quick response, so consider how you can reduce response times using software, email alerts and templates wherever possible.

Emails are an excellent method of disseminating information such as promotions, offers and information on new services or products. Sending creative, engaging and informative emails is essential to any business’s communications strategy.

Internal Communications

Besides external communication with your customers, effective communications can aid your employees and stakeholders in various ways.

Conference calls allow multiple offices to hold meetings without having to travel, while internal emails are vital to updating staff on policy changes, future plans and working guidelines. Leaving your employees in the dark will confuse them and risk them not working to the standards or strategies you are trying to implement.

Customer Response

Whether through telephone, email, post or in person, perfecting your customer response strategy is central to guaranteeing customer satisfaction and encouraging customer loyalty. When a customer makes a complaint, treat it with prompt care and attempt to resolve the issue, even if you disagree with it. You could also leverage conference calling to ensure that multiple members of your team, along with managers, can address the problems faced by the customer. This would help you resolve their issues instantly.

Infographic created by Clover Network, a merchant services provider.