Siemens, the company I have been working at for 40 years, is an innovative technology corporation that develops technological solutions for over 160 years to improve the quality of life for all people. And one of the key aspects in the establishment period of Siemens is communication. When our company was founded in Berlin in 1847, it was a leading brand in inventions on communication. For instance, though not directly a Siemens invention, success of the telegraph in its initial years also benefited from the innovative ideas of Siemens.

Communication is important to me not only in terms of Siemens, but also in my personal life. When I was a kid, my grandfather used to tell me stories about the means of communication in the past. I remember having listened to many stories on messages sent via pigeons released from high towers, mounted or on-foot messengers, and town criers. Therefore, communication has always been an enchanting subject to me since very young age.

The generation of our great grandparents told about news being announced in İstanbul by people called “town criers” and these people loudly read the sultan’s edicts on streets, crying out “Hear ye Hear ye!” This means of communication was first used by Mahmut II to establish communication between the administration and the public. Then it was extended to the economy by means of sellers in street markets. Certainly, not all news came from official sources. Even then, sources and quality of the news could sometimes be controversial, yet people did not drown in a sea of information as today.

In the modern world, we have discovered almost infinite opportunities for communication. With the advent of telephones, walkie-talkies, mobile phones, and now e-mails, we have discovered an unprecedented source and means of communication. Our children can send instant messages to each other, listen to their iPods, contact on Facebook, watch videos, and “do their homework” at the same time.

As today’s children can make online contact even before they learn to walk, scientists think the brain structure of future generations can evolve in a different way. Internet alone ensures that the biggest library in the world is at our fingertips.

In short, both the world and communication changed a lot since days of doves and messengers. This change carried to a brand-new age that we may call “age of information”. Let’s discuss the qualities of this age in the next post.

There is an increasing tendency that people like to share information – or issues – just to be sure that no one can say they did not know about it. I am sure you witness this at work or with friends. It is easy isn’t it? You just put all relevant people under cc in your email (or bcc, to make it even more effective). It ensures that your manager, colleague or potential stakeholder (related to the topic or not) cannot say “I did not know about it”. And you as a sender can always say “remember I informed you about these issues”.

I call this “The act of blame avoidance”. I believe it is time to remember that we judge good communicators not on the amount of information they share or wildly distribute. We rate them based on their talent, responsibility and capability to write and distribute well thought information effectively to the right person at the right time.

Amongst all that is new, claiming to be used and all that is old yet still seeking recognition, in practice, we may adopt the wisdom of Alexander Pope:”Be not the first when the new is tried. Nor yet the last to lay the old aside” This quote applies to me when thinking about my experience with Social Media. Step by step, I am experimenting with this new way of communication, without sacrificing my strong beliefs in the importance of quality, value addition or content. I am an avid reader of newspapers, originally founded to share valuable content to the masses. To survive and generate additional income, the newspapers found an income stream through advertising which later included Junk Mail.  I always got annoyed when my newspapers were delivered and all of the contents, including the colorful selection of brochures, coupons or “Junk Mail” would fall out. I understand some people may find these useful but I was always interested in “Content” of valuable information. Now history repeats itself as we experience the times of social media. It is too easy to forward anyone information from the worldwide web, sometimes without even reading the entire article ourselves. The receiver can then quickly categorize these people as ”Junk Mail Enthusiast (JME’s)” and do what most do, dump it in the Trash Bin……. for this, let’s focus to deliver content first.

I am sure much was written on the topics of good communication and customer relationship.  Our ways of communication is saturated with quick interactions, even the conception of speech, as something capable of aesthetic value, is changing and it is coming to be thought that the sole purpose of words is to convey practical information between two parties only; but they are not!  We have to make sure that words we use to communicate and interact are honest and have the key aspects of a good and fair relationship based on Believe, Trust and Empathy. The same applies to a good customer relationship, besides meeting the technological and economical expectations, the 3 key elements of a good customer relationship are based on the following:

1. Empathy:The ability to show you care about the interest and concerns of the customer and you are open for feedback. You look beyond just selling your services.
2. Trust:To win the trust of a customer and to work hard not to jeopardize this trust; with the goal to become, in the long-term, the trusted partner.
3. Believe:To believe in what you do and in your self will give you the drive to think out of the box to reach your target.  When you do not believe, the customer will neither.

When you base your customer relationship on this 3 elements I am sure it will help you to reach a valuable long lasting relationship with your customer.