Tough Times Call for Simple, Clear, Direct Communications

In this economy, almost every business seems to be cutting back on communications.  Annual reports are largely 10-K wraps, written by lawyers and accountants in convoluted language.  Quarterly reports, other than 10-Q filings, are largely extinct.  Budgets for advertising, public relations and investor relations have been sharply reduced.

Hunkering down and clamming up are not necessarily the best strategies.  Stakeholders want and need communications about your company in good times and bad.  In difficult periods, communications are even more important, because they provide insight into how management intends to overcome tough challenges. 

Top brands understand this and often increase communication efforts during hard times.  They know that if you’re not defining yourself, somebody else is doing it for you.  It may be a competitor, a disgruntled customer or shareholder, or someone on Wikipedia with an axe to grind.  The only solution is to take charge and create and reinforce the image you want to project.

Simple and direct communications are always the most effective way to tell your story.   You’re not going to get that from a committee of accountants and lawyers.   You need a professional communicator who can write for ordinary people, especially in an age where the Internet, e-mail, texting and Tweeting have made us unbelievably impatient with long messages and convoluted language.

At some point, an economic turnaround is going to occur.  That is not the time to start communicating, because you’ll just be playing catch-up.  When the gun goes off, are you going to be back in the locker room lacing up your shoes, or warmed up and in the starting blocks?

-Posted by Tony Lentini