Deprecated: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in /www/bradadamscomkinsta_650/public/wp-content/plugins/easy-testimonials/easy-testimonials.php on line 2163
“COMMUNICATION – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.” — Paul J. Meyer
To run successful organizations, entrepreneurs need to develop and enhance their business communication skills. This includes both verbal and non-verbal communication. With strong communication skills, you as an entrepreneur can communicate with business investors, employees and customers more effectively and skillfully.
Types of Communication Skills and their Importance
Here are the four types of communication skills that entrepreneurs must develop:
1. Writing Skills
Whether you are looking for an investor to invest in your new start-up or you want to form a partnership with other companies, you need to have outstanding and convincing writing skills.
New entrepreneurs looking to raise capital can use their strong writing skills to develop impressive business plans and feasibility reports. It helps express business plans flawlessly and convince investors to select your business proposal for investment.
Writing skills are as important for established entrepreneurs as they are for new entrepreneurs. It can help established entrepreneurs make partnerships with other companies and attract new clients.
Furthermore, today entrepreneurs with strong writing skills can secure a business edge easily. As businesses are competing online, more communication is being done through writing as compared to any other form of communication. Using your strong writing skills, you can market your business more cleverly through your business website and send crisp, concise and convincing business emails to clients and capture more business.
2. Speaking Skills
To become a successful entrepreneur you need to brush up your speaking skills. Let's say if you are able to convince an investor to invest in your business on paper, the next step would be a meeting with the investor. If you have poor speaking skills and you are unable to articulate your business proposition and sell your idea in person as skillfully as you did on paper, the investor might change his/her idea of investing in your business. And you might lose a potential investor.
In addition to this, entrepreneurs should also develop strong speaking skills because they have to give presentations to clients, run team meetings and deliver motivational speeches every now and then. If you can't speak and communicate proficiently in public, you can hurt your brand image.
This skill is needed to bridge the gap between the business owner and employees. If you have immaculate verbal skills, you can easily communicate business goals and your vision to your employees effectively. This helps increase employee productivity.
It also comes in handy when entrepreneurs want to introduce new changes in the business. If you can communicate effectively with employees there will be less resistance to change and they will accept it readily.
3. Listening Skills
This skill is often neglected by entrepreneurs. If you don't listen to the people around, you will never be able to progress and grow. This is exactly why most businesses often come to a standstill or start to lose their customers.
Customer Perspective
If you take a look at successful entrepreneurs around you, you will notice that they are open to feedback and suggestions. Here's how:
Sometimes you may be offering quality products to your customers but you may still be behind your competitor. In this scenario listening skills can really help. You can ask for customer feedback and product improvement suggestions. The user of your product can tell you its imperfections and how the product can become better. If you focus and listen to what the customer has to say, you can easily outrace your competitor by working on the areas where you lack and developing a better product for your customers.
Employee Perspective
Listening skills can clear the air inside the organization. If you only communicate your thoughts and ideas to employees and not listen to them, you will never be able to increase employee satisfaction and you will witness a high employee turnover. Successful entrepreneurs are those who listen to their employees. Employees can highlight the problems within the organization clearly and you can address the issues and resolve them easily.
If you respond to the employees problems in a timely manner, it will make them feel valued and they would want to work for your organization.
This depicts, whether it's your customers or your employees; if you develop the ability to listen carefully to what they have to say, you can easily improve and grow your business.
4. Reading Skills
Reading can help keep you abreast of current business scenarios and strategize accordingly. Entrepreneurs who don't have the habit of reading often fail to devise sound business and marketing strategies. Reading gives you exposure and powers your thinking ability. When you start reading you gain more information and get new ideas.
Therefore entrepreneurs must work on developing their communication skills in order to run a successful organization and achieve business success.