The Hidden Cost of Communication
CONTEXT
Touchbase has written this brief based on its 17 years of experience in helping companies improve the way that they communicate. It is designed to give the reader a clear understanding of the areas of business communication where Touchbase believes all organizations should be focusing to drive significant business outcome. On this basis it should be viewed as a tactical aid to stimulate thought around key areas of inefficiency which exist today in companies across the world. All references and opinions are taken directly from Touchbase’s interaction with over 650 major corporations.
INTRODUCTION
The basis upon which customers are delivered to and organizations are built is through the formation of groups of multi-disciplined teams all working toward a common set of objectives. In free and competitive markets, the success or failure of these companies is defined by their ability to deliver on the requirements of their customers in a consistent and profitable manner. The better and more differentiated the customer experience, the higher the chance is of the organization maintaining and growing its market share whilst maintaining and growing its profitability. It is the pursuit of this simple goal that has driven vast investment in technology, and the automation of every possible aspect of the business process, to increase efficiency and productivity whilst improving the customer experience. Due to this it is now unusual to find an organization that has not underpinned its operational methodology with systems that drive their business process and produce effective information from which the leaders of the business can make decisions. The exception to this is almost always found in the way that the company communicates.
If it is true to say that communication is the lifeblood of every company, then it is staggering to see the number of organizations who do not view it as their number one strategic imperative. Most companies view business communication tools as utilities or commodities when making investment decisions around them. They rarely look to fully align the way in which the business operates with the way in which they leverage the business communications tools available to them. Business communication tools and the systems underpinning them are most often seen as a cost on the P&L statement. This mindset causes the most common question of ‘how can you reduce that cost’ to be asked by the business. Very rarely do organizations look to these costs as investments which can drive significant and continual return across all of their critical success factors. The exceptions to this are seen in a handful of enlightened companies who are leveraging these investments to embed communications tools into the way they operate in order to drive huge business improvement.
