News August 2007
At a recent meeting of The Biz Club (an organisation established to promote the interests of small and medium sized businesses with decision makers and people in power) Technology Sales and Marketing Coach, Terry Forsey was asked what he felt were the main obstacles to growth for SMEs and what actions he felt were needed to over come them within 3 years.
“When the question was first put to me, my initial response was, ‘how long have you got’,” said Terry. “But after some consideration and recalling recent experiences, I reported that, in my opinion, ‘communication’ was a weak point for many businesses.
“It seems we are not very good at talking with our stakeholders – that’s shareholders, potential investors, bankers, employees, customers or clients, we rarely seem to ask for what we want or explain how we can meet people’s needs.
“This leads to difficulties – trouble securing investments and problems winning new sales coupled to a general reticence on almost all business topics. This may be a national trait – in the same way that US companies tend to ‘over communicate’, repeating a message over and over again, but it seems to work, the message does indeed get through!
“So, my recommendation to the Government both today and in the future is to further develop enterprise in this country by helping businesses ‘talk’ to their audiences, encourage communication and look to implement strategies that allow more open and regular dialogue with customers and potential customers.”
Terry has personally witnessed how poor communication has adversely affected companies; citing falling sales, suppliers’ issues or low staff retention as some frequent examples.
Today he strongly advises owners and managers to look again at the ways they communicate – as he believes it could the key to unlocking the potential within their business.
For more information, please call Terry on 01536 771440.
ENDS
