Communication is the basic premise for any business to succeed. Effective communication is not only crucial to foster a good working relationship between the management and employees, but also between the organisation and the customers.
Effective communication – both external and internal – strengthens the connections between an organisation and all of its stakeholders, and benefits businesses in numerous ways.
While internal communication helps employees to understand the organisation better, create mutual respect, and foster great working relationships between the management and employees, and among internal teams, external communication connects the organisation and its customers. It has helped in effective brand building, setting market expertise, thought leadership, moulding public opinion and creating an instant brand recall apart from setting a long-term perception.
It is imperative that internal and external communications must go hand-in-hand to deliver better business results. A well-defined external communication strategy is of significant importance and it must always look inward for business growth and performance.
If the teams responsible for external and internal communication work in silos and fail to collaborate, then they will be delivering inconsistent and mixed messages not only among employees but also among customers. For any company’s success, internal and external communication professionals have to work together to achieve the common goal while aligning on the business objectives. External communications strategy should look inward to better understand their employees as well customers.
The 5 reasons to look inward:
- To build trust among both external and internal stakeholders
Trust is the main factor that bridges the understanding between both employees and external audiences. This is one of the main reasons why companies are now combining internal communication with external communication with a seamless integration to deliver the same message across omni channel platforms.
- To create a sense of teamwork
While effective internal communication has a strong impact and influence on employees, external communications have it on current and potential customers. Therefore, an effective and impactful communication strategy is important in delivering the company’s values by connecting people from within and outside the company.
- To build a strong brand value
External communications play a critical role when it comes to building long-term relationships with customers as well as internal audiences. Aligning brand image from the inside out is important to create a strong brand value to reach out to the customers.
- To integrate communications platforms
Both the external and internal communications must be aware of what the other is doing and the efforts they are putting in. The respective teams act as a bridge between the employees to make them aware of the efforts every team puts in, thus bringing everyone on the same page.
- To handle change and crisis
When external communications look inward and work in harmony with the internal communications team, it helps to manage the change successfully. Change can be a change in leadership; when the company is undergoing a merger or acquisition or facing some crisis. This also helps boost the morale of the employees.