(We like to think so anyway)
A lot of conversations at work, and certainly those between customer and supplier are traditionally transactional. You want something done, the other party can make it happen. This of course is very important, it is how business is brokered whether in person, over the phone or by email.
However, if those are the only conversations that happen, apart from being a very dull working experience, creativity and innovation can be stifled but more importantly a more meaningful transparent trust relationship is not fostered between the conversing parties.
Non-transactional conversations are those where you and the other party are talking and listening (hopefully with equal interest and care) around the transactions for which you originally contacted one another. That does not mean to say every non-transactional conversation needs to be a revealing insight into your current state of mental health following the separation of your best friends, more an interest in other activities at work or how working from home is going for example.
At PacSol we are interested in not just how our services will help your business but how we can more generally help you succeed whether across the company or personally. We like to know what makes our customers ‘tick’, how you like to work through things, what frustrates you and if we can help, even in just a small way, then we are happy. Our aim at PacSol is of course to run a successful business and our business is providing first class services to our customers, providing solutions in the right way and at the right time. Getting to know and share in your business’s journey is part of that process, creating a healthy, trustworthy and transparent working relationship between us.
We are all people with potential, problems, relationships and hopes. Taking time to chat and listen keeps us grounded and may provide stepping stones to greater things. In fact, this author is a big advocate of mental health support (check my previous blog on mental health) so if you do need a vent about something in general on one of our calls, please don’t hold back. Whilst no guarantee of any answers, sometimes it is just good to know someone is actively listening.
Not so much ‘pop psychology’, just common sense really. What do you think?
#PacSolUK #communication #mentalhealth
Toby Gilbertson, Customer Services Manager. March 2021