I am often asked what is the one communication skill small business owners need to have to be as successful as possible. The best advice I can give is to be receiver-oriented, which is the fancy communication way of saying stay focused on your clients’ and prospects’ needs and wants. Sure there are techniques for all sorts of communication skills like becoming more confident; boosting your “know, like, and trust” factor; putting together a presentation; and rules about email etiquette. Certainly learning more about all these areas will improve your professional communications.

But what’s most important to remember is to always keep in mind your client or prospect. If you pay more attention to your clients and prospects and put yourself in their shoes, you’ll be practicing empathy. And empathy is the most important communication skill a person can have at work or at home. By putting yourself in the other’s place, you’ll get a sense of how it feels to be bombarded with 20 emails in a week from the same person trying to sell you something, for example. You’ll understand how it could take a little while to make a sale until the other person knows you and your business and feels you and what you have to offer are trustworthy.

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for Success at Work and at Home

As communication teacher, I am often asked by students why the skills I teach are important. A lot of what I present in the classroom relates to interpersonal skills in the lives of the college student: with friends and family. However, many students are taking college coursework to prepare them for a professional career. It’s important to realize that communication skills are easily transferable. Just how are the interpersonal skills someone learns useful at both home and work? It’s not that big of a stretch, really. 

Look at the job postings in the paper or at one of the online career search sites. What is the ONE skill required of almost every job? GOOD INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS. What is the one skill that will make a marriage great? It’s not being a fantastic cook or a fabulous lover (although both could be benefits!). It’s GOOD INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS. It’s no accident that it takes the same skill set to be successful in marriage and at work. 

With good, solid, interpersonal communication skills, you will be more likely to succeed in both your marriage and in your career. What are some of these skills? Take a look at any basic interpersonal communication book and read the titles of the chapters. You’ll see perception, listening, language, emotions, non-verbal communication, self-disclosure, communication climate, conflict resolution, and others. Being excellent at these skills will make you excellent at being a good friend, good spouse, and good employee, boss, co-worker, or business owner.
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Believe it or not, I have met dozens of business owners who have avoided opportunities to present their products or services to potential prospects because they were terrified of getting up there in front of an audience. When I hear that, I want to both hug them and shake them at the same time. It’s ok to be nervous, but one of the fastest ways to grow your business is by public speaking and avoiding it is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It’s so simple to develop a great presentation. Once you get out there and present it a few times, you’ll see how great speaking can be to help you get more people wanting to do business with you.

If you are the person in the front of the room sharing important information that your audience wants to hear, they will be excited to learn what you have to teach them. You have instant credibility just by being the person asked to speak as an expert on a particular issue. Further, when you finish, many in your audience will want to hear more. People will line up to talk to you because they want to know what you think about their personal story. Or they have an example they didn’t want to share in front of the group. What a perfect opportunity for you to start developing a business relationship!

Not sure where to begin? Here are some tips to consider as you develop a presentation that will wow any audience and get them interested in doing business with you.

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Questions Answered

As a communication coach and consultant, I often receive questions from folks in all areas of business who want to know the best way to handle certain situations. Usually people want to know the best way to approach someone about a particular issue. The issue that draws the most interest is e-mail communication. Clearly many people we interact with don’t know the rules of etiquette for business e-mails. When someone breaks those rules, responsible business people want to know how to deal with that situation tactfully and professionally. Here are several questions I’ve recently received along with my answers:

1. A group email is sent out by a new business announcing their Grand Opening. No RSVP is indicated, but should we reply to the person with an e-mail response?

Felicia Says: Although there was no request for a response about your attendance, if it was me, I would still reply to the sender with my warm congratulations on her Grand Opening. When you reply to a group broadcast message like you received, whether it is a direct invitation to attend a ribbon-cutting or simply an announcement that the business is now open, you are taking the opportunity to communicate with that business owner in a positive way. The more chances you get to connect with someone, particularly if that person is a prospective client, you’re sending an general message that says that person matters to you. People like and appreciate being acknowledged and will remember you down the line when and if they are in need of your product or service.

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