One simple skill has contributed to business success more than any other. We’ve known about it for quite a while and yet lack of it keeps stifling promising enterprises.

Back in the 1930’s, Dale Carnegie came across an interesting piece of research about the success of engineers.

“In such technical lines as engineering, about 15 percent of one’s financial success is due to technical knowledge and the other 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering– to personality and the ability to lead people.”

85% of an engineer’s success was down to their ability to communicate. This is just as true now, as it was eighty years ago. And it doesn’t just apply to individuals. Your business success depends on how well you communicate with your team and clients.

What happens when we don’t talk?

You’ve been in a relationship. What happens when you don’t talk about your needs and expectations?

Business is no different. When communication is poor, teams waste time worrying and ambling, uncertain of what to do next. Customers get angry, write scathing reviews, and leave.

On the other hand, thorough communication improves performance, increases employee satisfaction, and boosts productivity. On the customer side, it increases retention and boosts brand advocacy.

So how can you use technology to improve the way you communicate with your team and your customers? Let’s take a look at some of the tools at your disposal.

1. Use chatbots to improve customer service

Gartner researchers spoke to marketers at various companies and discovered something intriguing: 67% of marketers see customer experience as their prime competitive advantage. And 81% of them predict that by 2019, customer experience will be their number one competitive advantage.

What better way make someone feel like a million bucks than improving your communication skills? Customers need to be able to find the answers they crave as effortlessly as possible. Luckily, tech can help with that.

You can use simple chatbots to improve customer service, provide quick replies to common questions and direct customers to relevant information. You can use AI technology or pre-program your bot to answer FAQs in your brand’s voice.

2. Use tracking and analytics to create a better user experience (UX)

Your website, your app, and your digital interface is how you communicate with the world. It’s how leads and customers interact with your brand. If they don’t like it, they’ll leave and won’t return.

Luckily, you can use tracking and analytics software to understand how users interact with your site and make improvements. Here’s how you can get started:

  • Install heat mapping software like HotJar. Find out how much of your page a visitor reads, what they click on, and what they ignore. Then use this data to streamline your site.
  • Track dwell time through Google Analytics. How long does a visitor spend on a page? If a user spend a lot of time on a page then that page is probably doing its job well. But if they leave quickly, it’s time to find out why and use that data to make improvements.
  • Study the bounce rate. What pages do users usually leave from? If a page that’s built to retain the user has an unusually high bounce rate, there’s a failure in communication between that page and the user. Use that information along with dwell time and heat mapping to find the core of the issue and fix it.

3. Use instant chat applications to stay connected

Email isn’t always the most effective way to talk to your team. The inbox is full of too many distractions so it’s easy for important information to slip through the cracks. And there’s a second reason. The inbox traps information because it’s not searchable by other members of your team.

Instant, shared chat apps like Slack or Intercom, on the other hand, make information available to the whole team. You can ask questions and share posts and resources in group chats and split off into smaller groups. Plus, everyone that’s part of a channel can search it for relevant information. This turns your back and forths into an informational resource everyone on your team can benefit from.

4. Use video (for almost everything)

Making, using, and sending video is easier than it’s ever been. Video conferencing makes it easy to join meetings and has a lot of the benefits of in-person meetings.

It’s also got a set of unique benefits. Video meetings make it easy for remote team members to stay engaged. And you can record the videos and share them with anyone who couldn’t make it. At Versatech we pride ourselves on helping teams like yours find the perfect video conferencing solution so if you are looking for the one, we’d love to talk.

But there’s more to video than conferences. Easy to use, cloud-based screen recording software like Loom, Vidyard’s GoVideo, or CloudApp make recording quick tutorials, messages, or project updates and sharing them with your team or your customers super easy.

Because the videos are hosted on the cloud there’s no uploading, downloading, or embedding. They are fast to create– often faster than sending a message. And they are often much clearer than text– plus, you don’t have to worry about spell checking.

5. Project management software for streamlined workflows

Project management software like Monday or Asana lets you store project data in the cloud. Everyone has access to the latest iteration of a project without the need to update it manually, and you can add and store various assets.

Plus you can talk about the project and collaborate in real time in its dedicated space so all important files and information stay together. It makes effective communication so much easier.

6. CRM software for futuristic client management

Customer relationship management software like HubSpot or Salesforce makes communicating with customers, sharing information, and answering questions on a hyper-personalized basis possible.

Each customer gets their own unique profile that lists out their needs, preferences, purchase behaviors, and other data you’ve collected. This helps customer support, sales reps, and marketers provide a fantastic customer experience and it makes it easier to share customer information among your team.

Talk more, make more

Improving business communication using technology brings tangible benefits like increased productivity, higher employee engagement, higher customer retention, and improved sales. So start reaping the benefits by leveraging tech to improve overall business communication.