IMAGE BUILDING

 

 

▪    Meaning and implications.

▪    What is Minus Image or Negative Image?

▪    How to avoid it?

 

    In the world of business, building a positive and appealing image is imperative. The term "Image Building" is multi-dimensional and covers various aspects in the corporate world. It refers to a constructive approach in all matters, keeping in mind the essential element of courtesy, clarity, conciseness, mutual understanding, listening to and understanding other's point of view. By giving due consideration to others and adjusting oneself accordingly, one wins the confidence of the other party and establishes oneself on firm footing. This is the key to prosperity and progress in the sphere of business. Only by adopting a positive, responsible approach can the reputation an individual or firm grew. The need of image building is felt in every sphere, whether that be marketing, management, corporate structure, innovation, cultural awareness or environmental ethics.

 

    "Minus Image" or "Negative Image" can be observed in some ideas or attitude displayed or projected in such a manner that it become crude, offensive and unacceptable to others. Even if one finds something disagreeable or unacceptable, one should not express his thought in a manner which hurts others. Business ethics should be followed and certain basic principles of representing one's ideas should be adhered to 'Minus' or 'Negative', image can be avoided in a number of ways in business communication.

 

    In the world of marketing, we have 'Logo Image' and 'Global Image'. A logo is a symbol representing a company. In order to avoid a negative image of the product, the logo should be simple and symmetrical in shape. A powerful logo helps to build up the image is created through world-wide advertising or publicity of particular product. In order to remove the negative impact, global advertising should be impressive and memorable. The message in the advertisement should be reduced to an absolute minimum. The global commercial gets its message across succinctly, which belongs to universal language of picture and music. The commercials reinforce the brand-image independent of any real consideration of the product and image outsells product every time. Global image-making however, is a lengthy and costly process.

 

    To create a forceful positive image, you also stand in need of entrepreneurship. To keep away from creating and adverse image, the entrepreneur should have a clear, set goal before him. The goal has to be quite simple. The entrepreneur gets an idea, identifies his prospective customers and makes a sale. Most of all, he should be a master of risk-management.

 

Sales Letters:

 

    For many companies, successful marketing begins with the successful sales letters. A very positive and impressive effect can be created through such letter by following certain rules and principles in which the element of 'minus' image is avoided. Before you write a sales letter, put yourself in the shoes of customer. Make your letter reader-friendly. The majority of sales letters get filed, lost or binned. The reader friendly letter stands a better chance. The first golden principle of remaining away from negative image is that never insult your reader with what is obviously a mass-mailed letter. A short personalized letter, which gets to the point and clearly demonstrates a knowledge of the customer's needs, will invariably be better received. As a general rule, the more important the person, the shorter your letter should be. Managing Directors are deluged with mail. They rarely have time to do more than glance at it and are unlikely to respond to your letter themselves.

 

Business Lunch

 

    Very often a business deal can be clinched over a meal. The process of image-building can be enhanced by inviting a foreign client over a lunch in a local restaurant. The main objective during lunch is to do some business but first a friendly atmosphere need to be created. The conversation should be kept alive by talking a little about current affairs, sports, the weather and holidays. Once a friendly environment is created, one should try to get the conversation round to the subject of the contract or business. For bringing creativity and innovation is business, are should have a positive frame of mind and display a very appealing and impressive image. Such a person should be willing to take risks since those who are reluctant to take risks fail to innovate. At times, one also has to be illogical because an over-reliance on logic kills off ideas before they have a chance to develop. Negative images can be dispelled regularly re-thinking things. Problem–solving frequently involves breaking up problems into parts and putting them back together in a different way.

 

    Positive image has to be created even in the sphere of sales techniques. We have to remember that a customer is the most important person in the business, either in person or on the phone. We have to listen to everything the customer says. Even if he says 'no' we shouldn't argue with him because nobody has ever won an argument with a customer. We should never make extravagant claims for our product. Let the customer take a little more time to make buying decisions. You can't actually make people buy anything, but they want to buy, what you do is make them want to buy from you. This is possible by creating a favourable image by being honest and creating trust in the mind and heart of the buyer.

 

Multicultural Contacts:

 

    When you get into international business, you come in contact with people of different, nationalities and different cultural backgrounds. Under such circumstances, it becomes all the more difficult to avoid a negative image being created in the mind of the clients you are dealing with. They often like to get to know you before they do business with you. They also keep on changing their minds, they tend to dominate meetings, and very often they argue for the sake of arguing. The most logical and positive approach to deal with such people is to exchange information and share ideas, and in some cases, even accept then although you may not agree with them completely. Obviously in delicate negotiation, you should not always say exactly what you think. You have to express yourself diplomatically, to make your point firmly but politely. Here are a few examples of WHAT YOU THINK and WHAT YOU SAY:

 

WHAT YOU THINK		WHAT YOU SAY
1.	We are unhappy with this offer.	1.	I'm sorry but we're not very happy with this offer.
2.	We are dissatisfied.	2.	We are not completely satisfied.
3.	We can't accept it.	3.	Unfortunately, we would be unable to accept that.
4.	You said there would be a discount.	4.	We understood there would be a discount.
5.	Don't forget your obligations.	5.	I'm sure we don't need to remind you of your contractual obligations.
6.	We want a guarantee.	6.	We would need some sort of guarantee.
7.	We won't agree to this.	7.	We would find this somewhat difficult to agree to.
8.	We're shocked you expect us to cover the costs.	8.	We're rather surprises you expect us to cover the costs.
9.	That's wrong.	9.	With respect, that's not quite correct.
10.	We want a bigger rebate.	10.	Actually, we were hoping for a slightly more substantial rebate.
11.	We must finalize the deal today.	11.	We were rather hoping to finalize the deal today.
12.	You obviously don't understand.	12.	I'm afraid you don't seem to understand.

 

    All these example illustrate that whatever you say is slightly different from what you think or wish to express, but by doing so, the minus or negative image is avoided.

 

1. 'Unfortunately' and 'I'm afraid (No.3 and 12) warn the other person that bad news is coming.
   

 

1. Not very/Completely/Entirely + a positive Adjective (No.1 and 2) sounds friendlier than lots of negative adjectives e.g.:- not very good, not very popular.
   

 

1. "That would be a problem" in fact means the same as "That's a problem", but it sounds less direct.
   

 

1. "Quite, rather, slightly and somewhat" are softeners (No. 7, 8, 9 and 10). They make bad news sound better.
   
2. "You said there would be a discount" makes it sound as if you lied! "We understood there would be a discount" means it may just be a misunderstanding.
   

 

1. "You don't seem to understand" is string language but less offensive than "You don't understand" (No. 12)
   

 

Style and Ability:

 

    Coming to management styles and ability, a positive and attractive image can always be built by displaying certain outstanding traits. A person in a managerial position must be able to take initiative. He has to be a good, patient listener in order to understand other's point of view. He should stay calm under pressure and must always be prepared to take risks. In order to avoid a minus image and criticism, a manager must be conscientious and thorough. He should posses good communication skills and be energetic and assertive. He should exercise his authority but at the same time, be supportive towards his colleagues. He should motivate others by example and by being a role model. He should have a co-operative approach and be willing to delegate duties and responsibilities to others. All these qualities put together certainly create a positive image.

 

Presentation Skills

 

    In order to create a positive image, one should also have the knack of a successful presenter. For successful presentation a person should be a meticulous planner. His aim should be to inform, persuade, train or even entertain the audience. He should begin by brainstorming the ideas and deciding which are most relevant and appropriate to your audience. There should be organization in your content. You should be able to control your nerves while speaking and make maximum use of body language, visual aids and voice quality. If these elements are lacking, a negative image is bound to be created.

 

Negotiation Skills:

 

    At the negotiation table, it is essential to create a positive image so that the other party is fully convinces and shows willingness to accept your viewpoint. Before sitting at the negation table, plan your arguments thoroughly, make sufficient research, keep your objectives crystal clear in your mind, be aware of your limitations and adopt the right constructive strategy. During the negotiation, try to establish a good rapport with your opposite number, listen attentively at every stage of negotiation in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding. Be constructive in your attitude. Treat the other party with respect sensitivity and tact, trying to avoid an atmosphere of conflict. This will create a feeling of harmony and goodwill. Be flexible in your approach and be prepared to consider a range of alternatives. When you have reached agreement, close the deal firmly and clearly without the slightest shade of doubt or ambiguity. All these skills help in a avoiding a negative image.

 

Conveying Information:

 

    Finally, coming to verbal and written communication, Business Communication can't "just-say No:" when conveying negative information, they characteristically use certain vocabulary – positive words and phrases and avoid "you" and other personalized language.

 

    For instance, instead of saying "We cannot automatically transfer funds from your savings to you current account to cover your bad cheques," it is better and far less offensive to say "The automatic transfer of funds between various types of account is outside the capacity of our current computer system and our current procedures for managing accounts." In addition, while writing, business communicators traditionally subordinate negative information in a sentence. Instead of writing "We no longer deal in manual typewriters they write "Although we not longer deal in manual typewriters, you can fund a list of electronic typewriters on Page 11 of the enclosed catalogue." Business communicators also limit the space devoted to negative information in a message and, correspondingly, reserve space for emphasizing the positive. For example, only one line in a negative message is devoted to the bad news. The rest of the message is devoted to positive opening and close and to neutral explanation. Thus the minus image has a minimal effect. Instead of saying "we cannot reimburse you for damage that occurred during storage" is better to say "Listed below is the name and number of the person to contact regarding your claim."

 

    Business communicators also frequently sandwich negative information in between information that is neutral or positive. For example, a performance appraisal might read "John has made great progress in planning visual for his oral presentations. Although he still nervously clears his throat and says 'you know' a lot, he maintains good eye contact and holds the attention of his audience by interspersing his presentation with anecdotes and interesting details."

The Seven C’s of Effective Communication

    There are the seven basic principles of effective communication. The words representing their principles begin with the letter C.

 

COMPLETENESS:

 

    It means that the message must be complete in all respects. Keep the following guidelines in mind.

 

• Provide all necessary information.
  
• Answer all questions asked.
  
• Give something extra, when desirable
  

  
   

    Provide All Necessary Information

    Check your message and make sure you have provided all the information the reader needs for through, accurate understanding. Answers the five W questions—who, what, when, where, why—and any other essentials, such as how. Suppose we need a car on rent, then we must make clear that:

 

• You must have to include who needs the car.
  
• What model brand we want.
  
• Here it is to be made clear when we need the car. Exact date and time must be there.
  
• Here we have to clearly state where the car is to be concaved received. The exact address must be given.
  
• It is also be stated why we need the car. Here we can describe the event for which we want to rent the car.
  
• We are also to express how the receiver of the message is to deliver the car or how we will receive it.
  

 

    Answer All Questions Asked

    Look the questions: some may even appear buried within a paragraph. Locate them and then answer precisely.

 

    Give Something Extra, When Desirable

    The words "when desirable", in the above heading are essential. Sometimes you must do more than answer the customer's specific questions, because they might not clear about their desires or their questions may be inadequate.

 

CONCISENESS:

Conciseness is saying what you have to say in the fewest possible words. Observe the following suggestions:

 

• Eliminate wordy expressions.
  
• Include only relevant material.
  
• Avoid unnecessary repetition.
  

 

Eliminate Wordy Expressions

1. Use single-word substitutes instead of phrases.
   

 

Wordy:     At this time

Concise:    Now

 

Wordy:    Due to the fact that    

Concise:    Because

 

1. Use abbreviations.
   

 

        Higher Education Commissions can be represent by HEC.

 

Include Only Relevant Martial

 

    The message should contain only relevant material so that the receiver may have his focus on the particular effects which are intended to be concaved. Observe the following suggestions:

 

• Stick to the purpose of message.
  
• Delete irrelevant words.
  
• Omit information obvious to the receiver.
  
• Avoid long introductions and unnecessary explanations.
  

 

Avoid Unnecessary Repetition

 

    The ideas once expressed must not be repeated. It creates a bad impression and your receivers may take it ill.

 

CONSIDERATION:

    It means that our message must be prepared considering the essential facts. Three specific ways to indicate consideration are:

 

• Focus on "you" instead of "I" and "we."
  
• Show audience benefit.
  
• Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
  

 

    Focus on "You" Instead of "I" and "We"

        The focus must on You instead of I or We. Creating a you attitude may required avoiding telling others how they feel, assuming you know their needs.

 

    Show Audience Benefit

    Readers may react positively when benefits are shown them, so show their benefits whenever possible and true.

 

    Emphasize Positive, Pleasant Facts

    The emphasis must be put on positive and pleasant facts. We should tell the receiver what we can do for him instead of what we can not do for him.

 

CONCRETENESS:

    
 

    It means that the message must appear in solid form. The following guidelines should help you compose, concrete messages.

 

• Use specific facts and figures.
  
• Put action in your verbs.
  
• Choose image-building words.
  

 

Use Specific Facts and Figures

 

All the necessary data to support the message must be included so that the message may appear effect.

 

Put Action in Your Verbs

The action should not be nouns or infinitives. The action must be in your verbs.

 

    Action in Nouns:    Jamaldin is the guard of this building.

    Action in Infinitives:    Jamaldin's duty is to guard this building.

    Action in Verbs:    Jamaldin guard's this building.

 

Use Image-Building Words

Choose image building words. Such words must be use as they may create a strong image in the eyes of the receiver.

 

CLARITY:

It means that the message must be clear, and then the receiver will not be confused to understand it. Followings are the points to make the message clear.

 

• Choose familiar words.
  
• Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.    
  

 

Choose Familiar Words

    When in doubt, use more familiar words; audience will understand them better.

 

    Unfamiliar:    subsequent

    Familiar:    after

 

    Unfamiliar:    remuneration

    Familiar:    pay

 

    Construct Effective Sentences and Paragraphs

Your each single sentence should convey a single idea.

 

Unclear:    The fox is a claver animal and my brother studies in UK.

Clear:        I go to college and study my books.

 

COURTESY:

         The courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their feelings.

 

• Be sincerely tactful, and appreciative.
  
• Use expressions that show respect.
  
• Choose nondiscriminatory expressions.
  

 

Be Sincerely Tactful, and Appreciative

    Avoid expressions like those are tactless or blunt.

 

Tactless:    Stupid letter; I can't understand any of it.

 

Tactful:    It's my understanding that I am not able to understand this letter.

 

Use Expressions That Show Respect

    No reader wants to receive message that offend. Always treat reader with respect and honor and do not make humor of him.

Choose Nondiscriminatory Expressions

        Use nondiscriminatory language that reflects equal treatment of people regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, and physical features.

 

CORRECTNESS:

    It means that the message must be correct. Followings are the points to make the message correct in all respects.

 

• Use the right level of language.
  
• Check accuracy of figures, facts, and words.
  
• Maintain acceptable writing mechanics.
  

Use the Right Level of Language

 

    There are three levels of language; formal, informal, and substandard.

 

    Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing, legal documents and top-level government agreements.

 

    Informal writing is more characteristics of business writing.

 

    Substandard language uses incorrect words, incorrect grammar, and faulty pronunciation, so avoid it.

 

Check Accuracy of Figures, Facts, and Words

    Verify your statistical data, totals. Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data.

 

Maintain Acceptable Writing Mechanics

    Be careful to the mechanical part of every written document. Various packages available for computers, both grammar-checks and spell-checks have made your editing tasks easier.

Process of Communication

^{(Communication Components)}

 

Communication is a process of transmitting and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages. It considered effective when it achieves the desired feedback from the receiver. Communication process includes six components:

 

Context:

 

    Every message begins with context. Context is consists of country, culture, organization, and external and internal stimuli. Every country, culture and organization has its own conventions for communicating information.

 

    External stimulus prompts you to send a message. The source of this prompt may be a letter, memo, note, electronic mail, fax, telex, telephone call, a meeting, or even a casual conversation.

 

    Internal stimuli have a complex influence on how you translate ideas into a message. Your attitudes, opinions, emotions, past experiences, likes and dislikes, education, job status, and confidence in your communication skills all influences the way you communicate your ideas. You must analyze your receiver's culture, viewpoint, needs, skills, status, mental ability, experiences and expectations to communicate a message effectively.

 

Sender-Encoder:

 

    Sender of a message is called "encoder". Try to choose symbols---usually words---those should be understandable for your receiver that express your message so that the receiver will react with the response you desire. You decide which symbols will best convey your message.

 

Message:

 

    The message is the core idea you wish to communicate. Your first task is to decide exactly what your message is and what content to include. You must consider your context and also consider receiver of your message---how he will interpret it and how it may affect your relationship.

 

Medium:

 

    Medium is the channel that you select to convey your message. It depends on all the contextual factors. It can be oral or written. Your choices include e-mail, fax, telephone, letter, memo, or teleconference and so on.

 

    The written channel is preferred when the message is long, technical, or formal in nature, and when the message must be documented.

 

    The oral channel if effective when the message is urgent or personal or when immediate feedback is important.

 

    Inside Your Organization

 

    For internal communication, written media may be memos, bulletins, job descriptions, posters, notes, employee manuals, electronics bulletin boards, even internal faxes. Oral communication may take the form of staff meeting reports, face-to-face discussions, presentations, audio tapes, telephone chats, teleconferences, or video tapes.

 

    Outside Your Organization

 

    External written communication media may be letters, reports, proposals, telegrams, cablegrams, mailgrams, faxes, telexes, postcards, contracts, ads, brochures, catalogs, news releases, and a host of other things. You may also communicate orally in face-to-face discussions, by telephone, or by presentations in solo or panel situations, teleconferences, video conferences, or television.

 

Receiver-Decoder:

 

    Receiver of a message called "decoder". He is your reader or listener. Many of you messages may have more than one decoder. He also influenced by the context and be the external and internal stimuli. Receivers are also influenced by verbal and nonverbal factors such as touch, taste, and smell. All factors of a message are filtered through the receiver view of and experiences in the world.

 

Feedback:

 

    Feedback is the response or reaction from the receiver either your desired based upon a clear understanding of the symbols or undesired because of miscommunication. Feedback can be oral and written also. Sometimes silence is used for as feedback, though it is almost always ineffective. Senders need feedback in order to determine the success or failure of the communication.

Business communication

Communication:

            It is a process of transmitting and receiving verbal or non-verbal messages.

Mean:

A mean is a medium, channel or way that we are using to encode/send or decode/receive message or information.

Communication Means:

All the channels, mediums or sources through which we can send or get information or our messages called Communication Means. Communication process is classified in two major types as Verbal Communication and Non-Verbal Communication.

Each communication mean also falls in one of these categories according to its nature, so communication means can also be divided into these basic types as:

1. Verbal Communication Means
   
2. Non-Verbal Communication Means
   

 

Verbal Communication Means:

            The word Verbal refers to written or spoken words. There are several means that we could use to communicate verbally.

Electronic Means:

1. Internet

    Internet is a short form of International Network. This is the today's most popular and widely accepted mean. It requires a computer system, a dial-up connection, a web browser, a modulator and demodulator device called modem and a connectivity media like telephone connection.

 

    You connect to internet by dialing an ISP (Internet Services Provider) using your dial-up connection which is a software and it usually included with your operating system already. If you are connected with your ISP then there are several software or internet based applications that your could use to get your desired data or information in the form of text, images, animations, video media clips, or sounds streams, or you could upload or share your own data or information to persons with you would like to communicate.

 

    There are some major features of internet:

    E-Mail: E-Mail is a short form of Electronic Mail. It is used to send or receive almost any kind of data in computer own specific formats. Many international domains offer this facility like http://www.hotmail.com and http://www.yahoo.com are the most popular e-mail servers.

 

    Internet Chat:     This is a real time facility in which two or a group of computer users can be talk in written or spoken words. It also allows you to look each other by the usage of a digital camera attached with your computer. It can be done on a website or on your messenger. MSN Messenger is an example of chatting soft wares.

    

    URLs (Websites): URL stands for Universal Resource Location and it is also known as a website. A URL is a name or address of a domain on the internet which you specify in the address bar of your internet browser. A website is a collection of pages. Page is a document in the computer form that can be display on computer screen. Actually you calls pages of a specific location to get information, and each web page has a different URL address. These pages consist of images, animations, sounds. Websites can be globally accessible, and also very useful to get information or data at any time or from any place.

 

2. Phone

        Both the Telephones and Cellular Phones (Mobile) fall in this category. With the help of a telephone you could communicate in an oral way world widely. We just dial the number of the person or place where we want to communicate.

 

3. Fax

        Using Fax machines we can send or receive messages and information in the form of hard copies or printed pages. Fax machines require a telephone line to attach.

 

4. Television

        Television is a widely adopted device.

 

5. Radio

Radio is a classical and useful way of communication. Radio used for entertainments, news, current affairs, advertisement, weather situations, documentaries and sports information. It is single side communication way, because the listeners of the radio can not feed back from their radio sets.

 

Non-Electronic Means:

    

    6. Newspaper

Newspapers are also a classic mean of communication.

        7. Mail

    8. Courier

 

    9. Notice Board

 

Non-Verbal Communication Means:

Non-Verbal is a communication type in which the words are not used. Followings are the types that can communicate non-verbally.

    Appearance

Appearance has two types to describe it in more detail.

 

Personal Appearance. The factors that can effect on your personal appearance are might be clothing, hairstyle, jewelry, and cosmetics. They can convey your age, occupation, social status and economical status.

 

Surrounding Appearance. Aspects of surroundings include room size, location, furnishing, machines, architecture, wall decoration, floor, lighting, windows, view, and other related features wherever people communicate orally.

1. Facial Expressions
   

   
    

2. Gesture Posture, and Movement
   

 

1. Smell and Touch
   

 

1. Voice and Sounds
   

 

1. Silence
   

 

1. Time
   

 

1. Space
   

 

1. Pause