13 Steps to Communicate Effectively in your Business
Description:
Welcome to this week's episode of the Future-Proof Your Business Podcast.
Since I created my business LR Comms, in 2015, my goal has always been to bring my experience, expertise and immense passion for effective communication to the world of small business.
I genuinely believe that excellent communication is the key to success and creating a successful and sustainable business.
And so in today’s episode, I’m sharing with you thirteen steps to help you communicate more effectively and make more of an impact in your business.
1) It starts with you. You set the tone, the standard, and the culture.
2) Put yourself in other people’s shoes. See things from other people’s perspectives.
3) Back to Basics
4) Know your audience. Remember that one size does not fit all.
5) Don’t make assumptions.
6) Ask questions. It’s not about you.
7) Authentic – be real. Don’t try to be something you are not.
8) Be Vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to show your weaknesses or admit it when you don’t know something or if you get something wrong or make a mistake.
9) Listen to learn and be curious.
10) Language. Watch your language and tone.
11) Remember the little things. Show you care.
12) Sense check, measure, review, update, learn, and test things.
And most importantly of all 13) It starts with you. It's all about Felt Leadership.
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I'm Lucy Rennie, and welcome to my Future Proof your Business Podcast.
The podcast that provides you with everything you need to know to build solid foundations and ultimately Future-Proof your Business.
I'm on a mission to share my love for small business with you and help you to enjoy the extraordinary ripple effect that comes through harnessing the power of people and relationships.
And I want to make sure that you can reap the benefits of being a business and a brand that people know, like and trust.
I'm a huge champion for small business and a massive believer in the fact that people do business with people.
This podcast is here to inspire you, encourage you and support you on this roller coaster ride that is building, growing and Future Proofing your business.
Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Future-Proof Your Business Podcast. I'm Lucy Rennie. And today I'm going to talk to you all about communication.
And it's quite an interesting topic really. I suppose really, since I started my journey of running my own small business. So we're talking 2015, so eight years ago, when I started, that's what it was, it was I wanted to bring my experience and expertise and I suppose I'm gonna say it, i know it’s a dead cliche, but passion for all things communication. I wanted to bring that to the world of small business. That's what I'd always done. That's what I believed in. That's what my corporate role had been. And you know, it was head of communications. So whether that was internal, external with people about safety about just day to day, you know, managing expectations and, and communicating effectively with people.
That's just what I've lived and breathed for years and years and years. And when I started my own business, that's kind of the gap that I saw. And for me, that was the key to growing a business to future proofing a business to creating a successful business. You know, it all comes down to communication.
And it's so interesting, because for the last I don't know how many years, I've been working with different people, different coaches, masterminds, different groups, and they've all been wonderful in their own way. And, you know, provided all sorts of different value and just sometimes just being around, you know, people and other business owners and having someone to share the ups and downs with is amazing. But one of the things that's been quite interesting is, and I don't really know why, just to think maybe that it's because it's maybe more accepted in the corporate world. And maybe in an online space, people don't really understand what that means.
But people have tried to move me away from using the word communication. And interestingly, my you know, my actual official company's house business name is Lucy Rennie communications. And now you know, I go under the banner of LR comms, but that's just me trying to be cool and shortening it and making it a bit more as if I know what I'm talking about.
But interestingly, yeah, people have kind of said to me, you know, move away from using communication, you need to talk about marketing, all you need to talk about sales, or you need to talk about, you know, different things about what you do, because people aren't going to understand what what that means.
And I'm here today in 2023, to say, Do you know what actually, if people don't know what that means, I'm here to, to help you understand and to share with you as much as I can, so that you, you also see the benefit and the power and ultimately the importance of communicating effectively.
And for me, you know, I've written my book last year, which was all about clarity, communication, and connection, but actually, the essence of it all, it comes down to how you communicate, if you can really grasp this and really become, you know, an excellent communicator, then you know, you're more than halfway there to future proofing your business and creating something that's magical.
And that's going to create that ripple effect and do all the things that we want it to do.
And so, I thought today, I thought I'd come and give you a little bit of a taster into what communication means to me. And some sort of tips and things to think about as a business owner that you can apply in your business, whether that's with your customers, with your suppliers, with your team with your partners with we're whoever what we call the call stakeholders so those key people that interact that with your brand that you know, have an interest in in your business and what that does, whether that you have an impact on them or they have an impact on you or the way you know, so they could be people in the wider community. And again, we can talk about this again in another podcast, but really what I wanted to do today was just set the scene, so I'm going to take you through 13 points, I suppose to consider 13 things to think about, and these these 13 points and list them in my book, I talk about them in my book, but it's also they form the basis of a lot of work that I do with SMEs or corporate organisations and their teams to help line managers, business owners, leaders to think differently about the way that they're communicating and to think about, I suppose, really how to engage with their, the people around them.
And so I thought today, if I talk you through these 13 points, then maybe over the next few weeks or months in on this podcast, I can delve deeper into each one of the points and we can really maybe bring some people in to talk about it some examples of this and give you some more food for thought that you can then go away and apply in your business.
So I suppose really, that's what I'm going to do today. And it comes from these 13 points really are my I won't say conclusions. But the things that I've sort of having worked in this field for gosh, a long time now.
Over 20 years, it's things that I kind of have recognised now that are really sort of the fundamentals of it. And this isn't to say that this is, you know, all you need to think about, and nothing more, but these are the starting points.
So, you know, me, I'm always on about building foundations and getting the building blocks in place. So these are kind of the 13 things I want you to think about in terms of you, and the way that you communicate as a business owner, with the people around you. And we'll go on to think about them in more detail later.
So the first point, and it's incredibly important, and in fact, there's a whole podcast episode on this, if you go back to one of the early episodes. And it's something that's really, really important to me, but it starts with you. So whatever you're thinking about whatever you're about to communicate, whatever you're working on, whether that's building your brand, your business, your culture, your values, whether you're setting the tone, whether you're, you know driving a behaviour, or you're wanting to improve quality, or you want to create a way of working with customers, or whatever that might be, it has to start with you.
Okay, it's what we call felt leadership. And it means that, as a leader, we have to kind of set the tone, you have to lead by example. So, for example, we used to talk about it in safety. But if you're asking all the people in your business to let's say, wear a seatbelt in their cars, when they're going out to visit people, or just kind of, or you're asking them to make sure that they're wearing a helmet on the shop floor or a hardhat. Yeah, if you walk into that shop floor and you're not wearing a hard hat, then how can you expect other people to do the same? Okay?
If you get into your car, and drive off, and you've not put your seatbelt on, or you've got your mobile phone in your hand, you're not leading by example. So why would anybody if you're not doing it, if you're not walking the talk, why would anybody else, you know, be expected to do the same.
So from there would then develop all sorts of different things and can actually be really detrimental to your brand to your reputation to you as a leader, if you don't think about this and consider this. So again, yes, it might not be just simply communication in the terms of speaking and sharing. And this is what I want to talk. This is why it's so important, incredibly important is it needs to be embedded in everything you do in the way that you communicate. But it has to start with you.
Okay, you have to show up as that leader, you have to show that you're in control, you have to show that you care, you have to show that this is important to you. Because if you don't, then you can't expect anybody else to follow suit, and do what you're asking them to do.
The second point that I want to share with you, and this is, you know, this goes wherever you are. In fact, I was having this conversation with my eight year old daughter just yesterday about how important it is when she was talking about some of her friends in a class and something had happened at school and one of the girls had been upset. And so we were discussing and unpicking what had happened. And, really, my message was, you know, we've got to be able to put ourselves in other people's shoes. So I was asking my daughter to think about, you know, this girl in her class, why what you know, what's going on in her world at the moment? Why do you think she reacted like that? What was happening? Why was she upset? What was she thinking? How did she see things? Yeah. So it's all about perception, and seeing things from other people's perspectives. And that allows us then to, first of all, develop a greater awareness and an understanding of what's going on and the fact that actually nothing is always black and white. And that just because we see things one way doesn't mean that other people don't see things in a different way, but also allows us to then create or bring in that empathy to be able to then communicate to work or to develop a relationship with that person or to, you know, to, to move forward in a direction that envelops, you know, all different perspectives.
So, for me, that's key is fundamental, as a business owner, managing teams, managing people manage our clients doing what we're doing, you know, having kids, working, you know, creating a brilliant marriage or comes from, from being able to put ourselves in other person's shoes and thinking about how they're seeing things.
And one of the exercises, really simple exercise that we always used to do. And that I do sometimes in the workshops is even just putting a number nine or number six on the floor, and priming people on each side of it, and asking them what they see. Sounds really simple, but actually, you know, it demonstrates how somebody can be absolutely convinced that that's what they're seeing. But actually, you know, from a different perspective, it's not. And there's loads of these drawings, you know, have you seen those pictures where, if you look at it in one angle, you can see a rabbit, if you look at it the other way, it might be a horse, or there's all sorts of things that just allow you to, you know, to actually acknowledge the fact that nothing is set in stone, and that it's all about perception.
And these are great exercises to have with your team, you know, if you've got a team that you want to encourage to think differently about something, then having these kinds of exercises is really useful. So that's the second point.
Third point is, when we're communicating wherever that might be, whether that's internally externally, with our teams, with our clients, whatever that might be. Think about going back to basics. And what I mean by that is, making sure that actually, you've got the basics in place, and that you can manage your managing expectations in the best way. So just simply asking yourself, you know, what do people need to know? And what do you need to know? Okay, so if you're working on a project, and you're about to kick off with a new with a new client, and you're kicking off a project, you know, what are the things that you're going to set in the beginning, what you're going to agree on? How is that, you know, how are you going to manage each other's expectations? So that might be on the timeline, it might be on the results that you want to deliver together? It might be on the way of work in the way of communicating? Are you going to use email? Are you going to use WhatsApp? Are you going to use a Slack channel, it might be about the way that you're going to measure what you're doing, it might be about the way that you're going to pay, or it might be just simply how you're going to connect and feedback to each other or whatever. So just setting the scene is really important. And just being able to, again, put yourself in the other person's shoes, think about what do they need to know. So if you're, you know, even just buying a product, works for online, it works wherever you are thinking about the customer experience that you've got, and thinking about, you know, what can you put in place that preempts every every single thing that your customer or your key stakeholder might need to know. And then communicating that in a way that's really simple and clear and make you know, and that checks in again, to make sure that actually what they needed to know, they do know. So back to basics doesn't have to be rocket science, just simply asking yourself in this in this process to get from A to Z, or wherever, whatever that might be, what are the things that people need to know, in order to, to get there, basically.
Number four, is about knowing and understanding your audience. So thinking really, really clearly about who you're communicating with. And the reason why this is important is because actually, again, we talked about perception, but one size doesn't fit all. So how you communicate with one person or one stakeholder, or one community or one group of people, isn't necessarily going to be the same as how you communicate with another, okay? And that might change within the groups as well. So it's really important to just be aware, who you're talking to, who you're communicating with, who, who you want to engage with. And again, going through those first three steps to think about, okay, so who are they? What do I need to take into consideration? You know, where are they up to? And that might be if you're in it in a big organisation that might be about, you know, who are they? Where are they situated? Are they working at home in the office? You know, what team? Do they, what team? Are they part of? Is it sales? Is it operations are they on the shop floor? Are they? Is it a senior leader? You know, just really kind of taken two minutes to check in with yourself, send a check and think about who are they? And is my language adapted? Am I communicating in the right way? Am I using jargon? Am I using references to something maybe that they're not aware of all those things just to send to check and make sure that you are making whatever it is that you're, whoever it is that you're talking to, you're making sure that you're communicating in a way that's appropriate.
And again, I use the word talking, but actually, it might be that based on your audience, or the people that you want to communicate with that you might adapt and you might actually use something much more visual or you might use more audio or you might use a mix of all of those. And there's loads of different techniques that we can bring into like that, like the VARK technique, which would allow us to bring in different ways of communicating whether that's kinesthetic, learning by doing and all those things. So, yeah know, your audience is step four.
Number five is don't make assumptions. So, again, something that I'm always having a conversation with my daughter about because, you know, she might get upset about something or she might imagine something or she made a story in her head. And the first thing I'll do is ask her. So what are the facts? What do we know to be true? And what are the things that we're making assumptions about, what we're assuming? And this is, you know, I could talk for hours on this, and we will have a deeper podcast episode on this. But really ask yourself and sense check, what is this that I know to be true? So is it an actual fact? Or is this something that maybe it's a belief, maybe it's an assumption that I've made? Maybe it's an assumption that other people have made? And what can you do to make sure that actually, you know, you are sense checking that you are making sure that you're bringing yourself back to basics? And what is going on here? And what can I do about it, and again, if you're not sure, whether it's an assumption or a fact, then the best way of, I suppose sense check, you know, the best way of resolving that is to go and find out.
So this could also be so it's very often when I'm talking with some of my corporate clients and their teams, they might assume that they're added, if it's a line manager, they might be assuming that their team don't want to have a meeting on a Friday afternoon, because they like to leave early and go and play football, they might assume that everybody really enjoys playing football, or they're interested in rugby, or everybody making an assumption that everybody wants to have holidays in this in the summer. So in August and September, this, you know, it could be the tiniest little thing. But very often, we don't realise what we're doing. So just catching ourselves and asking ourselves actually, the way that I'm moving forward in this project, the way that I'm communicating this, am I making an assumption? Or is this actually a fact? And if it's, we don't know, best place is to go and ask them? What do you think about this? Do you know if this is true? What's the best way? And it might be even you know, if you've got a hybrid team, and you need to be able to check in with your employees or the you know, your, your stakeholders, or your manager, or whoever that might be, the best way is to ask them, what's the best way to communicate with you? Or when's the best time to check in? Or do you prefer going on teams or dropping to pick up the phone? Or should we go for a walk? Or do you want to come to the office, you know, asking the questions, and really getting to the heart of it. First of all, you get the facts and not make an assumption. But secondly, you're showing that you care and you're interested and that you actually give a, you know, a monkey’s as to whether it's true or not, and want to get to the nitty gritty of it. So there's loads of value behind that.
Again, this leads me on to number six, which is about asking questions, and the fact that it really isn't about you. So this can be taken in loads of different ways. So if you're somebody who gets quite nervous about going into a room and talking with people, or connecting or networking or giving a presentation, or whatever that might be from a personal perspective, then one of the best ways of kind of taken the edge off it is to say to yourself, actually, it's not about you. And that you can, you know, transfer that sort of butterflies that you might be getting in your tummy. And talk about the fact that actually it's about your audience and the value that you're giving and make it about them. So if you're walking into a networking room, then take the edge off you and go and ask questions, go and be interested in other people and curious about them. Because actually, people love to talk about themselves.
So it's a, it's a really great way of kind of communicating and building that relationship without you having to overshare or to, you know, if you're shy, or you're not quite comfortable, then it's a great way of doing that. But secondly, when you are asking questions, and you are trying to find you know, the answers to certain things, try and use open questions, or so open ended questions where you can't have a yes or no, but actually, you know, people have to give you their real input their real thought on something, or asking clean questions. And what I mean by clean questions is where we're not guiding somebody. So it's completely neutral, we're actually, you know, we're really not in any way, shape, or form, orienting somebody into to giving us a certain answer. And again, I'll do a whole podcast episode, I think, on questions and, and how that can really bring value to your business in all sorts of ways.
Number seven, in terms of again, there's no particular order to this. But the seventh point to consider is being authentic. And I know that's a real buzzword at the moment, and everyone is kind of gonna You gotta be the real you. But I really mean it, actually. And the more that I see it happen and more that I'd share or talk with people who have embraced this or the more you know, that we can kind of put that in place, wherever we are in with my clients, with with my connections with the businesses, but the more they can really, I suppose, just kind of grasp or embrace the fact of being their true selves, their authentic selves and being real, the more actually the magic happens and that you can have have that real connection.
And that because you're not trying to be something that you're not, then that genuine sort of relationship is built. And that's where the trust comes from. And so being brave to kind of go, Yeah, this is what I think or this is what I stand for, or No, I don't agree with you here, or this is what I do well, just showing up a little bit more in your true self, letting people in a little bit behind the scenes, makes a massive difference, whether that's you as a manager and managing your team, or whether it's with your clients or with your with, you know, you know, other key stakeholders just by really being you and not trying to be something else makes a massive difference.
And are in line with that, really, number eight is about being vulnerable. And I've been having a few conversations lately with some clients who are really desperately trying to protect their team to look after them, and to keep them, I suppose, away from the worries that might be going on at the moment because of the cost of living and different things. So they're not necessarily sharing the trying to sort of show that you know everythings okay, and they're in control and things.
Whereas actually, if they can be a little bit more vulnerable, if they can open up a little bit and maybe show their weaknesses, or say they don't know that they're worried about something or kind of let people in, then actually, it makes it more human. And it builds that trust. And actually, if you can share, particularly in a team environment, but if you can actually, you know, open up, those may be challenges to some of your team, I'm not saying all of them, but some of them, then, in certain situations, then actually by empowering your team members and giving them that, showing them that you trust them, and that you're open to, you know, you value their their opinion or their input, then you're actually empowering them, they will show up, and they will step up even more, because you've given them that responsibility, and they can step in and, and help you and do something and make it make an impact and be involved in it.
And it's almost kind of it sounds, I understand, you know, we want to it's our nature, isn't it to nurture and look after people, but actually, by allowing them to step in, it gives them that power, it gives them that feeling of being trusted, and actually, you know, the more people we can get in and the more people we can get to, to take some of the responsibility, the the higher the chances that you're actually going to overcome the challenge and come out of it stronger. So being vulnerable, and allowing people to see that you don't know everything is huge, and that you know, you are human at the end of the day, and that we're all learning and we're all doing these things it makes a massive impact. And it's not easy. And you know, we have to be brave with that. But it does make a big difference.
Number nine is all about listening. And I've just recorded a podcast episode on this actually, and the power of listening and stopping listening to people just to reply or kind of just giving them you know, the chance to speak and then kind of jumping in with something else or interrupting them, but actually really listening to learn from them and to see where they're coming from and listening in terms of also just watching body language and the way that they're communicating can really inform you, and can communicate all sorts of different things.
And then, in the same way, showing up as being curious and asking those questions and being interested in people develops that trust in that connection, those relationships and, you know, ultimately will help you to strengthen the way that you are with your people, whether that's clients or whoever they might be.
Number 10. And we talked about this a little bit before in terms of knowing your audience, but number 10 is all about language. So watching your language, but also your tone. So thinking about the yes, the words that you're using, whether they're appropriate, whether they're jargon free, or whether they're adapted, to make sure that you know your audience can understand them.
But also think about the tone as well. So are they in line with your values? Is there the way that you're speaking and the way that you're showing up? And the way that you're communicating? Is that appropriate? And is it in the best light for what you're trying to achieve? Some great things to think about there would be maybe creating a tone of voice document sharing your values, obviously, it comes from the culture, but having those conversations within your business to make sure that you know, you are using the right the right language, the right jargon or not, as the case may be, and making sure that everything is adapted to who you're talking to.
And very often, we tend to think that as business owners, I know I did in the beginning as well. But we sort of think, Oh, I've got to be eloquent. And we've got to talk and, you know, complicated language that makes us look like we know what we're talking about. But actually, the simpler and easier and the less complicated. We can make our language when we're talking and really matter of facts and get our message across. But the more effective it's going to be because actually, you know, we want people to understand who we are what we're doing. And we also want people to feel comfortable and not like you know, then they're not on the same level as also that they're not clever enough. To understand what your website says about what you do, also there's kind of a, an unspoken communication that's going on there about making people feel at ease that they're in the right place, that they can feel comfortable that they get what you're saying.
And that actually, they, you know, they can see really quickly that you're the right person or the right business for them.
And number 11, is all about remembering the little things. And this, for me is about communication in the wider picture. But it's about really showing that you care, and really showing that you, you know, you're listening, that you're noticing that you're yeah that you've thought things through that you've sense checked, and that you've really thought about, you know, like the basics, what do they need to know, but then maybe such you know, what, actually, what would really make it impressive, or what would really make people delighted about your business experience or working with you, or whatever it is, those little things, and that might just be, you know, simply recognising that it's somebody's birthday, and sending them a text message, say happy birthday, because it's showing that you're thinking about them, it might be a handwritten note that, you know, starts the journey of working together with you, it might be an email that just says, you know, thank you for for shopping with us, it might be that you do come in with a pizza on a Friday afternoon for your team, because actually, you know, you've recognised that Friday lunch times, I don't know is the chill out afternoon, or it's the time when people are a little bit more relaxed. And so you want to create that atmosphere.
So just thinking about how you can show your appreciation and encouragement to your team, to your people to you know, and showing that you care, I remember when in my corporate days, I was on a campaign at one point, and I actually called it the little things campaign was because it was the time whenever I think I spoke about this on here before but was the time when all the sort of the senior leadership started to have those Blackberries [phones]. And they were out of the office very often. And they were communicating via email to their teams that were in the offices predominantly most of the time.
So these teams, were receiving emails from the senior leaders, that would just kind of right action this do this, you know, move here do this, because it's literally the managers were just kind of like forwarding an email with a sort of a for your FYI or whatever, and not really thinking about how it was being received. And so just taking the time to think about actually, you know, if you are forwarding an email who's receiving it, and what does that look like, because they're not necessarily again, putting yourself in their shoes, they're not necessarily in the same context or same environment as you are in the same way of thinking.
So just being aware of that, and maybe modifying or adapting the way that you are communicating to take that into account. And that might simply be just adding in Hi. Hi, Rachel or Hi, Dave, or whoever it is, and just maybe even asking, how are you? And I know, there's a lot of talk and business quotes about how you're not supposed to be personal and ask questions and just get to the point and be direct, but I'm sorry, I don't agree with any of that.
I think yes, of course, we need to communicate effectively and concisely. But, actually, we're still allowed to have, you know, relationships. And actually connection is everything. So as long as it's coming from a genuine place, and that we really do actually care than asking somebody how they are or tapping into, you know, if you knew it was their son's birthday at the weekend, then just remembering that and asking them about it has a massive impact, much more of an impact than just being able to write a concise email and getting a message across straightaway.
So really think about what those might be. And they will differ depending on who you are communicating with, and where and when, and that will evolve as well. So it won't always be the same thing for the same people at all times.
And then again, that fleet feeds in really nicely to number 12, which is sense check. So everything that you're doing as a business owner, and when you're managing a team, or you're working with clients, or there's, you know, managing projects, whatever it is that you're doing, always think about how you can sense check this.
So, you know, how are you going to measure it? How are you going to know if it's working? How are you going to check it? And how are you going to maybe ask for some feedback? How are you going to learn from this? How are you going to make this so that it's always relevant? Or how are you going to improve it? Yeah. So we'll always be thinking, kind of in that continuous improvement mindset of how can you make this better, more efficient? How can you improve the way that you're communicating with people? How can you improve the relationships? How can you improve, you know, how can you do better, basically, and again, as you discover those things, and you get better at, you know, getting that feedback, it's really, really important to make sure that you're applying it and that you're implementing it and that you're not kind of sitting on your laurels and just kind of becoming complacent or blase about it and assuming that you know, you're doing everything in the right way because I can promise you you're not and that we all make mistakes and there's there's always going to be things that you can that might take you by surprise, but also things that you can learn from and, you know, yeah, improve or develop as you move forward.
And then finally it brings me really nicely to point 13 And I'm going to come right back to the beginning. It's just what I do in my book as well. But just to say, yeah, it does start with you. And actually, as the business owner is that, you know, that manager, that leader, then you are, you are your brand you are your business, whether your front of house or whether your more in the background now, or even if you're just, you know, the chair, and you've got a whole team that's running it for you, it still comes down to you to make sure that you're leading by example.
And that might simply be just in terms of your expectations that you're communicating with your key people and making sure that actually you are, you know, delivering on that and that you are checking in with them and sense checking and moving forward on that. And people will be looking to you for, you know, guidance for confidence, they want to know that you're like I said that you're in control that you know what you're doing. But ultimately, it just comes down to those things that maybe we don't communicate, but that people are seeing from you, or they're watching you, or they're listening to what you're saying or the language that you're using. And all those things that we've just talked about, if any of those things you're not doing or you know, you do differently, there's no way that it's going to be able to be embedded within your business or, you know, it can be really detrimental the moment that you don't do that, because how can you expect anybody else to do it if you if you're not going to do it too.
And also, especially because it's you, the business owner, then the impact would be, you know, considerable if it comes from you. So, on that note, I hope I've given you lots of things to reflect on.
So they're my 13 points. It's a whistlestop tour, because I just wanted to kind of give you an overview and some things to think about. And I'm going to go into those in much more depth over the next few weeks and months. But I'd love to know what you think and how you experience and what you think about communication. And whether actually, it's a term that you do recognise and understand or whether actually, you know, maybe I should be using a different term. And if so, then please let me know. And we can have a chat about it. And I'd love to, to see what you think about it. And whether actually, it's something you consider.
But for me, if we can nail this, if we can get communication right, if we can really communicate effectively in all areas of our business, then we don't need to do any kind of marketing in that sense. Because actually, everything's going to come from that place, we're going to create that word of mouth marketing, that ripple effect where people are just going to want to keep coming back for more and shout about you from the roof tops because of the experience and the value and the trust that you're you're delivering time and time again.
And so on that note, I'm going to leave you please let me know how you get on with this, what you notice, what comes up for you, what what works, what doesn't work, what your thoughts are, you can get in touch with me in the usual places. But my email is lucy@lrcomms.co.uk. And in the meantime, if you're up for it, I would really, really appreciate you to leave me a review, wherever you're listening, whether that's Apple podcasts, or even if you just want to come over to Google and share on there on Audible, but just that's the best way that I can get this podcast out to more people and help more small business owners like you to to do things that work for you and do things in a good way and really future proof your business.
So on that note, I'm going to say thank you and I will see you next week for another episode of the future proof business podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Future Proof Your Business podcast. I've been your host, Lucy Rennie, I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, then I'd love you to head over to Apple Podcast, Google Play, Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcast and hit the subscribe button. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review and a rating and help me to reach even more small business owners like you who want to build a business they love.
And don't forget, you can head over to iamlucyrennie.com and sign up to my email list as well as find more tips and tools to help you Future-proof your Business on my website and in the show notes.
Finally, I'd love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you. In my free Facebook group, Communicate with Purpose.
You can find all the links on my website and in the Show Notes.
Resource Links:
https://www.iamlucyrennie.com - free downloadable resources, other episodes and free downloadable resources
Join my mailing list - https://www.iamlucyrennie.com/podcast
Join The Future-Proof Club® here - https://go.lrcomms.co.uk/future-proof-club
I would love to invite you to come and join me and lots of other small business owners like you in my FREE Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CommunicatewithPurpose