Communication is the foundation of every successful company. Unfortunately, though, many companies struggle to maintain a consistent strategy or platform for their communications. When this problem emerges internally, it can compromise your business’s ability to work cohesively. When it affects external outreach, it can weaken your connection with clients. This is especially problematic for B2B companies that rely on strong relationships with customers. Avoid the following eight mistakes when you’re working on your company’s communication strategy.
Avoiding these eight communication faux pas can give you the tools you need to reach clients successfully. This is essential for B2B companies that rely on their communication platform to close sales and resolve customer issues.
1. Making Tools Inaccessible
Accessibility is one of the most vital qualities when it comes to developing communication tools. Too many businesses obscure their communication resources from view and make it difficult for users to find essential contact information. If you’re making this mistake, you’re contributing to customers’ frustration — and this can ultimately cost your company customers and revenue. You can retain both by developing a suite of communication tools that are easily accessible to all of your business’s users.2. Mismanaging Resources
The mismanagement of communication-related resources is yet another common faux pas that can harm your business’s relationship with clients. If you rely too heavily on human customer service agents, for example, customers may be forced to endure unnecessarily long waits for responses to simple queries. Conversely, if you rely too heavily on artificial intelligence and automated communication tools, you risk alienating your customers. It takes time to find a balance and manage these resources effectively, but it’s an essential step if you want to meet your customers’ needs.3. Relying on Outdated Systems
Too many companies rely on communication systems that are woefully outdated. There are many reasons this may be the case, but the emergence of CPaaS eliminates any excuses that your company may have. If you’re still using the same platform you used five or more years ago, it’s time to discover the many benefits of an enterprise CPaaS provider. CPaaS offers a full suite of communication tools and resources that makes it easier than ever to establish a cloud-based system. In addition to offering streamlined communications, this can reduce security vulnerabilities for your company, too.4. Expecting Too Much
Customers don’t want to run a metaphorical marathon just to find solutions to their issues. Your clients may feel this way, though, if you use communication tools that demand too much effort on their part. If you require customers to create an account, answer several prompts, or jump through other digital hurdles in order to communicate, you’re setting the stage for a subpar experience. You shouldn’t expect customers to meet extensive criteria just to get in touch with your company.5. Gatekeeping Resolutions
Similarly, you should avoid the common pitfall of gatekeeping resolutions. Companies often require customers to receive assistance from a human for issues that they could easily resolve on their own. Encouraging your customers to solve their own issues and exercise autonomy is the best way to cut down on the cost of customer service and communication. More importantly, it can result in higher customer satisfaction rates.6. Failing To Set Goals
Do you have a clear set of objectives that guide your company’s communication strategy? If not, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve your operations. You should assess your customers’ needs and analyze how effectively — or ineffectively — your current communication infrastructure meets those needs. If there is room for improvement, you should collaborate with your team to create several guiding goals.7. Focusing Only on Outcomes
While creating communication objectives is certainly important, you should never focus exclusively on outcomes. On the contrary, you should work on creating tools that offer your customers a productive and engaging experience, from start to finish. This demands that you shift focus from the end result and pay attention to the events that lead up to the resolution of an issue. This process is just as vital as the outcome of communication.8. Not Adapting to Change
Finally, you must always be able to adapt to change. No matter what industry you’re in or what kind of clients you serve, communication norms will eventually shift. That’s why it’s essential to build an infrastructure that can easily change and adapt to these fluctuations. Relying on a system that’s too static will limit your company’s communication resources — and this will harm your customers’ experience with your business.Avoiding these eight communication faux pas can give you the tools you need to reach clients successfully. This is essential for B2B companies that rely on their communication platform to close sales and resolve customer issues.