There’s a habit very much our own that never fails. In the business cycle there are two key moments when decisions are made. One of them is September. And the other, January, with the start of the new year.
I’ll focus on the first one, since that’s where we are now. After summer, everything gets moving again. We go back to the office. Suddenly, the inbox fills up with emails again, client calls come back. Projects are reactivated and the calendar fills up with meetings, trade fair attendance, publications, campaigns… It’s the “back to school” of businesses.
But, as happens with students, not all of them arrive well prepared for the new term. Some start September with everything very clear. They used the summer to think things through. They know what they want to achieve in the coming months and what the next steps will be. Others, however, come back just as they left in July. With everything on the edge and no planning at all, letting day-to-day matters set the pace.
If you didn’t have time to think during the summer, before everything starts moving at breakneck speed again, it’s time to stop for a few hours. And look at the company with some perspective to spot what to improve and how to work better. For example, preparing budgets for the year-end close, organizing the calendar, and setting sales targets already adjusted to the results of previous months. All of that is important. But I want to focus on another aspect that often gets left for later and that, nevertheless, I believe should be present in everything we do: communication.
And when I talk about communication, I don’t just mean social media, advertising campaigns, or press releases. A company communicates through everything it does. From its website to how an email is answered. In how a quote is sent, or how a call is handled or a customer is received… All of this conveys an image. In other words, it communicates, it tells people who we are, even if we don’t realize it.
Sometimes we think communication is solely the responsibility of the person in charge of marketing. But that’s not the case. Every department communicates. So does administration. So does reception. So does whoever answers the phone or delivers an order. That’s why it’s worth reviewing all of this and thinking about whether the image we’re projecting is the right one.
A good way to start is by answering some simple questions.
- Is our website still a good calling card, or is it outdated?
- If we use social media, does it convey the quality and reality of our work?
- Does the experience a customer has match the image we’re trying to project?
These are very simple questions, but answering them goes a long way toward understanding our business model. Routine has a curious effect. We get so used to seeing the same things every day that we stop noticing small details that a customer picks up on in just a few seconds. Stopping to look from the outside every once in a while is, therefore, necessary.
An outdated website. An old sales dossier. Photos from ten years ago. Imprecise information. Emails left unanswered in the queue. Social media accounts asleep or abandoned. Things that seem unimportant on their own, but that together end up affecting the company’s image.
So yes. September is a good time to do that small review. But calmly. You surely won’t need to change everything. Sometimes it’s enough to update some content, reorder priorities and objectives, review communication channels…
Every business has its own challenges. Some companies need to sell more. Others are looking for new markets, attracting talent, or building customer loyalty. Whatever the goal, communication is a way to achieve it.
Because communicating isn’t just about talking about what we do. It’s about making others understand who we are, how we work, and what sets us apart from the rest.
September and the back-to-school season can therefore help us look up, review the image we’re projecting, and align our goals. Without forgetting that companies never stop communicating. The difference lies in deciding whether we want to control the image we project or let others build it for us.
Having personalized support, like the one offered by the Galicia Economic Office, can be key to a successful implementation. Request free specialized advice and take advantage of the resources available to boost your business.
