Why We Should Never Compromise On Communication
Embracing The Personal Touch
As a person who is quite often driven by emotion, my strengths essentially lie in being very personable and diligent. I would use words like caring and conscientious to describe my nature. These are good qualities to have but I find that care needs to be taken to ensure I can cope with more demanding situations. As such, I would like to visit and age old topic but one that we seem to frequently need to be refreshed on.
Communication is that topic, but there are several angles from which we can look at it. Communication is definitely a two way process and with most things, has many variables and grey areas. Using a few examples from my own experience, I am hoping to share the reasons I think good communication is vital AND where it is needed most.
Working with clients
An SEO client is often quite in the dark as to what SEO is and how it works. As such, they are essentially putting a lot of blind faith in their SEO company, and they do not always have the same understanding of good practices and good quality SEO. We can give the most detailed explanation of SEO processes but what the client usually wants is us to instil some confidence. I find the most effective technique in this instance is to give an overview in small manageable pieces. We can update our clients as to the main points and then customise to provide the details that they want to see and hear. Each client and their business is unique and will have differing priorities.
Clients are waiting for that all important return on their investment and we need to manage their expectations sensitively. To do this, we need to focus on all the positive signs to illustrate the progress made. We need to be quite clear in terms of our strategy and what our client can expect from us. At the same time, I would want my client to feel they are able to speak with me if there was a problem. This provides me with the opportunity to address any issues that cause unhappiness. We cannot solve every problem we encounter but we can show the effort we put into doing our best for them.
Within the company
We need to be pro-active, share ideas and experiences. With a vast resource of skills within a company, we need to capitalise on this massive opportunity to learn from each other. More experienced members of staff should be thriving on the ability to pass on knowledge and lead others to success. We should communicate all of our successes as well the tribulations we learn from. My advice within the company is speak out, join in and get involved.
Talk about your experiences to colleagues and senior team members. You can find support within the team if you need help as you simply get another opinion on the matter. Tackling a project knowing there is a team behind you is so much more rewarding. A team that gels together well is one that communicates and supports each other; two heads are better than one and three are better than two etc.
Within the industry
Public relations are a key component of most businesses and again, communication and how we portray ourselves to the public is crucial to the success of our company. We need to be looking for industry knowledge, making contacts and developing relationships to help our company thrive within the SEO industry. If we do not possess the ability to research, communicate and share, we make our jobs so much harder. There is a magnitude of information, advice, best practice and industry standards that we need to make sure we are all aware of. If we can communicate and portray ourselves in a positive fashion, it is possible that we can therefore lead in the industry. What an exhilarating experience that would be.
July 17th, 2012
Great post Carly, communication is often an important factor that’s over-looked. As SEO is such as communication-driven industry, it’s definitely an essential skill to run successful campaigns.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on how to communicate effectively with clients who aren’t easy to get a hold of or who aren’t so keen on communication – perhaps something you can answer in your next blog post?