Is there such a thing as ROI for communication?

Research from WTW, formerly known as Willis Towers Watson, a British-American multinational insurance advisor, has found two critical reasons for businesses to invest heavily in communication:

Businesses with highly effective communicators have a 47 percent higher return to shareholders than companies with the least effective communicators.

Businesses with solid communication practices are 3.5 times more likely to outperform industry peers than businesses with less effective approaches.

Click here for the full report, Change and Communication ROI – How the Fundamentals Have Evolved and the Best Adapt.

As CEO of your company, you must communicate with a broad audience of stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors.

Focus on Investors

What can you do to improve communication with your investors?

What can you do to increase investor trust and ROI?

What’s the best way to communicate with your investors?

Without open and transparent communication, your investors cannot know if you are fulfilling the promises you made to them when they first invested in your company.

Ineffective communication can lead to distrustful relationships. It can reduce your ability to attract more funding and cause you to miss opportunities to network with people in positions of influence. People who could help grow your business and your ROI.

Where do you start?

It’s best to be proactive and keep the lines of communication open.

Your communication style determines your relationships with your investors. Here are four tips to help you shape and sharpen your communication style.

1. Be transparent even when it hurts; you build the trust that can weather downturns.

2. Update your investors often. Don’t communicate only when you have good or bad news. By communicating regularly, your investors are engaged, and you reduce the odds of surprising them with negative news.

3. Be prepared. Make sure your message is clear, and if you’re speaking at an investor meeting or sending a message via video, take the time to practice.

4. Balance vision with the bottom line. Your investors want to see the big picture and understand how your vision translates to their ROI. Find a way to connect the two in every communication.

Open communication is essential in honoring your investors’ commitment to your company and vision; it also strengthens the relationships that will help you continue to grow your business and increase your ROI.

Do one thing: Determine ways you can improve communication with your investors.