Deep Thought

Remember if you will Saturday Night Live back in the late 1980's, early 1990's.  Deep Thoughts, by Jack Handy...  Today's blog is one of those such moments....

I rarely write in the first person, because I really feel that what I write about here is not about me, but about others.  However, my thoughts are different today.  I had a thought recently while I was having a meeting with a direct report of mine.  We were talking about customer engagement and how effective we were being not with our consumer engagement, but our clients that hired us. 

Since we have had very few requests come in from our clients, and our consumer ratings have been consistently strong, we wondered if there are issues beneath the surface.  Thus my recent thought, that "the messages often lost are in the words never spoken".

What this statement means will be interpretted by each person individually.  Here are my two cents.  As a vendor, service provider, retailer, etc., it is easy to get caught up with positive vibes when no one seems to be complaining, however, are you sure there is not something brewing beneath the surface?  Are you surveying your clients and touching base with them on a regular and ad hoc basis?  How do you know what their "ping" points are? 

On a personal level, are you connecting with those that really matter?  In any relationship, communication is the key to success, even at times where you may not personally feel like communicating.  My self-perception is that I am shy and introverted, although I have been told just the opposite in almost all facets of my life.  Communicating with others is something that I really struggle with, especially when it comes to "chit-chat".  My preference is to be more of a listener and analyzer to gain perspective.  However, in order to be successful in my line of work I have found that I need to proactively communicate with clients and staff.

I have found that by not being proactive in my communication, I have often lost messages in words that were never spoken.  There is the old saying that when one assumes...  I have learned never to assume.  People, personally and professionally, appreciate proactive communication more so than reactive communiction even if it's as simple as just checking in call.

The messages often lost are in the words never spoken.  Make it your goal to not lose a message today.  Then make it a goal for a week, then a month, and pretty soon it will become a habit, both personally, and professionally. 

Have a great week!  And feel free to communicate back with me!