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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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.

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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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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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But, there’s also a great temptation to let those “why’s” become your “how’s” – and before your know it, you’ve hopped right off the track.

Here are a few examples…

Why: More time with family and working on your own schedule

How: You try to squeeze working your business into the nooks and crannies of your family’s hectic schedule.  You promise yourself you’ll sit down and make some calls when your kids are occupied and not hanging on your leg.  You run out the door with sticky handprints on your shirt and the chaos of the day written all over your face.

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Sure, you’re looking forward to an evening with women who you’d love to be your girlfriends.  You want to set a casual atmosphere where your guests are comfortable and having fun.  You want the guests to look at you and think “I could do that” and feel that you are just one of the girls.

So, it’s very tempting to throw on your capris and t-shirt and run out the door.  And hope that the grease stains from those little hands won’t show.  After all, this is your “fun” job and just a great chance to get out for a night.

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You’ve heard it – whether in your company’s training or in a recruiting pitch. My company says it, too. “Our (insert product here) is so great, it sells itself.”

What do you think of when you hear the word salesperson? Or sales? If you’re like me, the classic used-car-guy image pops into your head. Words like pushy & manipulative get lodged there.

About 6 months after I started my Direct Sales business, a group I’m in did a little activity where each of us wrote things we liked about one another on slips of paper. They were anonymous, and it was just one of those feel-good activities. One of mine said, “She’s a great salesperson.” I bristled. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that!

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You might be any of these, but if you’re a business-owner, you are also a professional.

Are you objecting? If you’re like me, “professional” brings to mind accountants, lawyers, engineers, doctors, etc. What about entrepreneurs and small business-owners? I hope you’d agree that they are, or should be, professionals. If you have made the leap to start a business, no matter how small, then you are indeed a business-owner. You’re not just a “candle lady” or a “scrapbooker with a cute little business.”

Many of us choose a direct-sales business for the flexibility and freedom it allows us to spend time with our children, to add to the family income, or just to get out and have some adult interaction. I think those “why’s” sometimes distract us from taking our businesses seriously.

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I’ve become quite skilled at getting a feel for whether a potential client would be a good match for me, whether the services they need are ones I enjoy providing, whether they will contribute to my joy – or whether they will add stress and dread to my work day. And I have learned how to say no, and to get over the feeling that I’m disappointing someone if I don’t agree to take them on as a client.

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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? Most employers look for “good interpersonal communication skills.”

Now ask yourself this: What is the one skill that will make a marriage great? It’s not being a fantastic cook or a fabulous lover. Cooking in the kitchen and in the bedroom both go a long way to keeping a relationship happy for sure, but it’s good interpersonal communication skills that give a marriage staying power.

And if you’re a small business owner—the same rule applies: you need to have great interpersonal communication skills in order to keep the cash rolling in. If you don’t relate well to your customers, they’ll leave to find someone else who they think can better relate to them and their needs. It’s no accident that it takes the same skill set to be successful in marriage and at work.

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