In a business context, most people think of clear communications in terms of their customers. But it is also important to communicate well with your suppliers.

For instance, someone I know recently ended a project because his client gave him insufficient and contradictory information. This client had prepared a brief but work done to match that brief was rejected!

 Obviously communication is a two way thing but if you make your needs straight forward it is more likely a supplier will give you what you want.

1. Specify anything mandatory - e.g the logo must always be on a white background or the newsletter must be ready by the 1st of each month

2. Explain your ideas - a rough sketch is ok as long as it is labelled

3. avoid jargon unless you are sure the supplier understands it the same way you do - that includes using their jargon if you aren’t sure of it yourself!

4. write or talk as if they are a customer - clearly, concisely and politely.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under business info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.