Communication Skills: March Madness and Marketing
It’s that time of year again, as spring is here- a time to refresh and reinvigorate.� And if you are among the millions mesmerized by March Madness, you need to work hard at avoiding the distractions- and have fun doing so!
Setting up a tournament pool can actually help communicate with your staff or colleagues and stay connected to each other. But when it comes to business, nothing is more serious than communicating well with your clients and colleagues alike.
In this March edition of the HRG Newsletter, we review the importance of developing a clear communication platform as a central component of your marketing plan, and provide some tips and techniques from our Allegis Communications team that have been proven to drive revenue and improve customer service.
We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter, and look forward to hearing from you about this topic and others you may be interested in learning more about. If you have not already, we invite you to review past editions on our web site at�HRGinc.net, and Follow us on our�HRG LinkedIn Group�page.
Wishing you continued success this Spring!
Regards and best,
Robert O. Sanders Jr., CMP
Founder and Chairman
Hospitality Resource Group, Inc.
Communication Strategy and Brand Building
Ask anyone in senior management who has tried to drive their business to a new level, and they will tell you that it is more of a challenge than ever to connect with their target market effectively and be as responsive as possible. And despite distractions that get in our way like the NCAA tournament, this may be the best time to take a hard look at how well we communicate- with our clients, strategic business partners- and each other.
Your ability to communicate effectively in business is the most important skill you can possess and, unlike other marketing challenges, it is totally within your control- as a manager or an employee.� How well you present, receive and exchange information and cut your clutter represent the most important measurements of your ability to be successful in whatever you do.
In a groundbreaking book�Overload!: How Too Much Information Is Hazardous to Your Organization, Jonathan Spira wrote about the excess of e-mail, social media, and texting that have led to such a high degree of information overload. Consider these staggering statistics:
- Information overload costs the U.S. economy almost $1 trillion per year- that’s 28 billion hours lost each year in the U.S. alone
- Reading and processing 100 e-mail messages often occupy over half of a knowledge worker's day
- It takes 5 minutes to get back on track after any 30-second interruption
- For every 100 people who are unnecessarily copied on an e-mail, up to 8 hours can be lost
With the growing barrage of emails, voicemails and texting, forward-thinking professionals are constantly looking for ways to improve their ability to declutter and communicate better. How well do you manage your inbox, and connect to the outside world?
One of the ways you can start improving is to audit your own messaging and communication platforms, from email to voicemail, and your online presence. To begin, ask yourself these questions:
1.��� Have you listened to your voicemail and cellphone recordings, to hear what you sound like? Is it clear, informative and up to date? If you forgot to change your out of office message from the winter holiday, it may be time.
2.��� When was the last time you Googled yourself to see what came up in your search?
3.��� Is your LinkedIn page up to date? Does your photo look reasonably professional? (it should be different than your Facebook picture)
4.��� Does your business card list any awards your company has earned lately, or include anything out of date?
5.��� Have you included yourself in your email database to make sure you see what your eblasts look like to your clients? Do your eblasts look the same on your smartphone?
For all the resources you have invested into your business, shouldn’t you take the time you need to make sure you present yourself and your organization as professionally as possible?
Here are some simple steps you can take to audit your communication capabilities:
1.��� Ask someone to call your office and leave a voicemail, to make sure your message is clear and provides the proper instructions for backup.
2.��� Email your business address from your personal email, and vice versa. Make sure it looks professional, and all of the links are intact, and that no images are missing or distorted. �
3.��� Schedule a time on your calendar every month to Google yourself to make sure it is up to date, and includes important recent activities you are involved in at your company.
4.��� Invite colleagues or friends to review your LinkedIn profile to make sure it isn’t missing anything.
Developing a strong marketing campaign starts with a solid communication foundation that will position you and your company to respond with clarity and consistency across your entire organization.�At HRG’s Allegis Communications, a key to our success is to take a hard look at what we do internally, and approach our clients eager to improve the way they present themselves in their markets. Allegis marketing management and communication consulting services focus on brand development, new media marketing and social networking strategies that build awareness to position in new markets.
Looking for a solution to your marketing communication strategy? Contact Walter Recher at Allegis Communications at (914) 761-7111 or email [email protected].
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