Small Business Communications are Difficult.

Small business owners often find themselves figuring it out as they go. You know--building it as they fly. 

This approach can be effective as a business gets its footing, but it can create issues down the road that are hard to unwind–especially when those issues are related to internal and external communications. 

There are a few issues that we commonly see, and the fix for all of them requires you to implement new tools into your business. You may be starting to realize that we don't like to throw tools at every problem--but in these situations, the tools are often the best remedy available. 

Without further ado, here are the problems--and their fixes!

1️⃣ The business owner uses their personal cell phone number.

This may seem like the path of least resistance in the early days of a business. You already have the phone number, so why not use it?

Because as the business grows, it can become your biggest nightmare.

When you eventually implement a business phone number and scale your team, your contacts will have a habit of contacting your cell number already wired into their brains. Good luck changing that behavior!

But seriously--forcing behavior change on other people is hard. Especially when they're your clients.

Want to solve this problem? 🤔

Get a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system like Google Voice or Grasshopper.

2️⃣ The team chat occurs over texts on the team’s personal cell phone numbers.

This is problematic on many levels:

• Can make the team feel like they’re on-call 24/7 if the group chat never stops.

• Gives the business owner no administrative control over who is or isn’t in the chat, which can create major issues in times of transition.

• Doesn’t allow you to create channels to segment the conversations for better organization + ability to scan what’s relevant without reading through all messages.

Trust me when I say that a messaging app with a channel called "Urgent" can be a real game-changer.

Want to solve this problem? 🤔

Use a messaging app like Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, or Slack.

3️⃣ The team uses their personal cell phone number for client and vendor calls.

This is problematic for the same reason as the owner giving out their cell phone number.

Your team members will be contacted long after they’ve left the company, and there’s no guarantee they’ll handle it nicely–or at all.

Want to solve this problem? 🤔

Get a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone with extensions like Google Voice or Grasshopper.

If this all sounds like a lot, we can help! Check out our Drop-In Coaching service if you need coaching on one of the software tools we recommend.