Why Your Business Needs to Be Aware of the Messages it is SendingEverything your business does is part of your communications mix. You have to be aware of all the messages your company is sending. And you absolutely have to ensure that your employees know that whatever they do is part of the message your business gives customers.Here’s an example that we’ve all experienced more than once. Jack takes one of his most important clients to dinner, hoping to finalize a deal he’s been working on for months. He’s picked this restaurant based on the suggestion of a friend who had dined there to celebrate a birthday. The
setting is perfect. The table where Jack and his client are seated is in a quiet location so they can discuss business (Jack took care of that by calling ahead and also discretely giving the maitre de a $20 bill when they arrived). The aromas are wonderful and Jack can see that already his client is impressed.Jack and the client order their meals and begin discussing the proposal Jack gave the client earlier in the week. The discussion is going well until Jack senses that the meals are taking an incredibly long time to arrive at the table. He glances around at other tables and sees that other people are also waiting. Jack starts to worry that the deal is going south, not because of anything he’s done, but because of what’s happening at the restaurant. Jack looks for the server, but the server is nowhere in sight.Finally, after what seems like an endlessly long wait, the meals arrive and Jack and his client begin to eat. Still, Jack is tense because what should have been a pleasant meeting has been made difficult by the delay. Fortunately, Jack is able to close the deal with the client. On the way out, Jack was asked how everything was and he says, “Fine,” because he doesn’t want to complain in front of his client, but he vows that he’ll never go back to the restaurant, and he tells five other people how bad his experience was.
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