Communication is about sharing information. Some of that information is related to the task.What are we doing, why and how? It’s information our partners need to feel included in the process and to accomplish their tasks. But we must also share information about the relationship: how we are resolving our conflicts, building trust, making decisions, and so forth.Without this type of communication, our relationship may not evolve and develop as we move through the Stages of Relationship Development.
Listening is another important communication skill needed to build trust.When we actively listen to our partners,we share complete and accurate information between us. This ensures that no partner feels left out of the communication loop—one of the biggest obstacles to building trust.When we listen to our partners,we gain insights into their needs and what is motivating them to work collaboratively with us. This information enables us to help our partners get their needs met. This is important if we want our partners to feel we are working for them.
One final note on communication is that technology has created many platforms for us to communicate with each other. Some of us prefer e-mail while others would rather pick up the phone or have a face-to-face conversation. Be sure to check with your partners and determine their preferred method of communication and try to meet that need as often as you can reasonably do so.
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Positioning depends first on finding a niche or part of the market where there is space to establish a profitable position. To discover whether one exists requires an understanding of the trends and factors influencing the market.
How best to focus on the customer is another important decision. How will potential customers react to the message or offer? Or, to put it another way, what message will have the greatest impact on the customer? With positioning decisions, timing is important. First movers have a head start and can get to know the market in detail and build a strong customer-base, ideally establishing a rapport with customers. Brands that are not the first mover should endeavour to launch when the market leader is weak or quiet, or both.
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When Dupont, an industrial conglomerate, realised that it was not selling enough fibres for use in the carpeting industry, it decided to look at the whole value chain: carpet manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors (retailers) and customers. It found that many customers preferred tiles or wooden floors for ease of maintenance and durability, but also because of unsatisfactory experiences with carpet retailers.
Reasons for their dissatisfaction included inconvenient locations, unimpressive ranges, lack of samples, unreliable delivery and poor fitting. Dupont changed its division from carpet fibre to flooring systems and started to think more of the decorative and fashion features of carpets, rather than just the functional ones (robustness, stain resistance, durability, noise and heat insulation). Consequently, it developed information for the whole value chain, including new information and advertising for customers on how to buy and maintain carpeting, and the Dupont hotline for retailers, providing answers for consumer questions.
Dupont’s expertise on products, selling and understanding consumers was also available to retailers on video, and the company provided information on market trends for carpet manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.
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