Top 10 communication tips

Fluff walks, money talks. It is more convincing to show a client how much they will save or earn, than simply telling them they will benefit. Photo / Thinkstock

Make an intellectual connection
1. Have structure and logic to what you want to say, rather than being all over the place. Point 1. Point 2. Point 3.

2. Be prepared and answer rebuttals up front. You can introduce it as 'I know what you're thinking'.

3. When convincing to make a change, introduce it by setting the scene, painting a picture. For example, in convincing a client to shift to cloud based accounting, introduce it as 'It's 4:30 in the afternoon. You're on the pool deck of a cruise boat. Relaxing with a mojito. You've just finished your monthly reconciliation on your iPad, a job that took you 10 minutes instead of the two hours previously. The accounts are all in order, you're free to go.

Make an Emotional Connection
4. Restructure from 'I, we, us' to a 'you' perspective. No: Our firm is a good place to work. Yes: You'll enjoy working here. No: Here are the papers Yes: Here are your papers.

5. Use stories to make your point.

6. Great stories have three elements: characters, dialogue and told in a way to grab attention up front. This means you can start in the middle or the end, then backtrack to the beginning.

7. Quantify. Fluff walks, money talks. Don't tell a client that doing something is beneficial. That is fluffy. Figure out how much they'll save/earn. That will be much more convincing.

8. Rule your inbox. The very top tip for saving time is to learn and use rules to automate your inbox. You can have emails automatically filed, deleted; even answered.

9. Quick parts - Don't type the same paragraph in emails repeatedly over time or use drafts. In Outlook, in an email, in the insert menu the function quick parts save preformatted text and images and enable you to insert them with a click.

10. Use voice recognition on your smartphone. You benefit two ways. Hands free such as 'Siri, read me my emails; tell John Jones I'm running 15 minutes late (a sms is created). Secondly instead of typing an email, sms, or note simply hit the microphone next to the space bar and dictate.

Written by Debbie Mayo-Smith, One of New Zealand's most in-demand speakers, trainers and bestselling authors. Debbie works with companies that want more effective staff. For more tips and business ideas sign up for her free monthly newsletter.