Business Communication I

BBA

7 Cs of Effective Communications
When we talk about Effective Communication, one thing that comes in mind is, the basic
principles of effective communication. These principles tell how your message can become
effective for your target group. They also tell about style and importance of the message.
These are commonly known as 7 Cs of effective communication.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Completeness
Conciseness
Consideration
Concreteness
Clarity
Courtesy
Correctness

Completeness
Message Receiver- either listener or reader, desires complete information to his/her question.
Suppose you are working with multinational company who is engaging with engineering goods,
like A.C. Now let say one of your major customer wants some technical information regarding
cooking range (because he wants to convey the same to the end users). In this case you have to
provide him complete information in a short span of time. If possible, provide him some extra
information when desirable. In this way you can maintain a good business relation with him,
otherwise he may switch to an other company.
Five Ws
One way to make your message complete is to answer the five Ws i.e. the who, what, when,
where and why questions. This five question method is useful when you write requests,
announcements, or other informative messages. For instance, to order (request) merchandise,
make clear WHAT you want, WHEN u need it, WHERE it is to be sent.
In the end, we can say that, you must provide him:1.
All necessary information as requested by him.
2.
Answers all of his/her questions carefully
3.
Provide some more information, which he is not requiring, just to maintain good
relations.

Conciseness
Conciseness means to convey the message by using fewest possible words. Conciseness is the
prerequisite to effective business communication. As a business executive is always short of
time, therefore a concise message saves the time and expenses for both the parties.
How to achieve the conciseness
To achieve conciseness, you must consider the following.
1.
Avoid wordy expression
2.
Include only relevant material
1
Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar

Business Communication I
3.

BBA

Avoid unnecessary repetition.

Avoid Wordy Expression

Instead of at this time you can just use a concise word: - Now. Always try to use To the point
Approach in business scenario.
Include only relevant information
Always try to provide only relevant information to the receiver of the message.
Lets say, one of your customers requested for a list of clients of the company. In reply, you
should provide simply a list of the clients at the panel of your company. There is no need to
provide detailed business information about client. Observe the following suggestions to include
only relevant information.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Stick to the purpose of message.

Delete irrelevant words.
Avoid long introduction, unnecessary explanation.
Get to the important point concisely.
Avoid un-necessary Repetition

Some times repetition is necessary for focusing on some special issue. But when the same thing
is said without any reason, the message becomes wordy and boring. Following are some ways to
eliminate unnecessary words.
1. Use shorter name once you have mentioned the longer one. For example, for Spectrum
communications Private limited use Spectrum.
2. Use pronouns or initials for example, instead of world trade organization use WTO or you
can use IT for Information Technology (keeping in views that receiver knows about these
terms).

Consideration
Consideration means preparing every message with message receiver in mind. Try to put
yourself in their place before handling any matter related to them. This is called You Attitude.
It is very important for effective communication. While writing a message, you should always
keep in mind your target group.
Consideration is very important C among all the seven Cs. Following are three specific ways
to indicate consideration:
1. Focus on you instead of I or We
2. Show audience benefit or interest of the receiver
3. Emphasize positive, pleasant facts.
Using you help you, but over use leads to a negative reaction.
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Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar

Business Communication I

BBA

Try to focus on you instead of I and We.

We attitude
I am delighted to announce that we will extend to make shopping more.
You attitude
You will be able to shop in the evening with the extended hours.
Show audience benefit or interest of the receiver
Readers may react positively when benefit are shown to them. Always try to address his/her
needs and wants. Always show/write to reader what has been done so far as his/her query is
concerned.
Emphasize positive and pleasant facts
It means you stress on what can be done instead of what cannot be done. For example:
It is impossible to open an account for you today. (Negative, unpleasant.)
As soon as your Identity card reaches us, we will gladly open an account for you. (Positive,
pleasant)
We dont refund if the returned item is soiled and unsalable. ( Negative, unpleasant.)
We refund when the returned item is clean and resalable. (Positive, pleasant)

Concreteness
It means that message should be specific instead of general. Misunderstanding of words creates
problems for both the parties i.e. the sender and the receiver. When you talk to your client always
use facts and figures instead of using ambiguous words.
The following guidelines should help you achieve Concreteness.
1. Use specific facts and figures
2. Choose image building words
General
He is very intelligent student of the class and stood first in the class.
Concrete
Alis GPA in B.Sc Electrical Engineering was 3.95/4.0; he stood first in his class.
Always write on a very solid ground. It should definitely create good image as well.

Clarity
3
Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar

Business Communication I

BBA

Getting the meaning from your head into the head of your reader accurately is the purpose of
clarity. In effective business communication the message should be clear so that the reader can
understand it easily.
1. Choose precise words.
2. Choose familiar and easy words.
3. Construct effective sentences and paragraphs.
In business communication, always use precise words rather than longer statements. If you have
a choice between a longer word and a shorter one, always use the shorter one.
Always use familiar/easy to understand words so that your reader will quickly understand.
Familiar
After
Home
For example
Pay
Invoice

Unfamiliar words
subsequent
domicile
e.g.
remuneration
statement for payments

Courtesy
Knowing your audience allows you to use statements of courtesy. Be aware of your message
receiver. True courtesy involves being aware not only of the perspective of others, but also their
feelings. Courtesy stems from a sincere you-attitude. It is not merely politeness with mechanical
insertions of please and thank you, although applying socially accepted manners is a form of
courtesy. Rather, it is politeness that grows out of respect and concern for others.Courteous
communicators generates a special tone in their writing and speaking. Following are some
suggestions for generating a courteous tone:
1. Be sincerely tactful, thoughtful and appreciative.
2. Use expressions that show respect for the others
3. Choose nondiscriminatory expressions
Be sincerely Tactful, Thoughtful and Appreciative
Though few people are intentionally abrupt or blunt, these negative traits are common cause of
discourtesy. Sometimes they stem from a mistaken idea of conciseness, sometimes form negative
personal attitudes, and sometimes form not knowing the culture of a country or even groups of
people.
Avoid expression like those in the left hand column below; rephrase them as shown in the righthand column:
Tactless, Blunt

More Tactful
4

Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar

Business Communication I

BBA

Stupid letter; I cant understand

I think I am slow at understanding things.

Could you please explain it?

Its your fault, you did not properly read my latest

FAX

Sometimes my wording is not precise; let me

try again

Thoughtfulness and Appreciation

Writers who send cordial, courteous messages of deserved congratulations and appreciation (to a
person inside & outside), help build goodwill. The value of goodwill or public esteem for the
firm may be worth thousands of dollars.

Correctness
At the core of correctness is proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. However, message may
be perfect grammatically and mechanically but still insult or lose the customer. The term
correctness, as applied to business messages also mean three characteristics:
1. Use the right level of language
2. Check the accuracy of figures, facts and words
3. Maintain acceptable writing mechanics
Use the right Level of Language
We suggest that there are three level of language
1. formal
2. informal
3. Substandard
Formal and Informal Words
Formal writing is often associated with scholarly writing: doctoral dissertations, scholarly, legal
documents, top-level government agreements and other material where formality is demanded.
Informal writing is more characteristic of business writing. Here you use words that are short,
well-known and conversational as in this comparison list:
More Formal
less formal
Participate
Join
Endeavor
try
Ascertain
find out
Utilize
use
Interrogate
question
Avoid substandard language. Using incorrect words, incorrect grammar, faulty pronunciation all
suggest as inability to use good English. Some examples follow:
Substandard
More Acceptable
Aint
isnt,arent
5
Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar

Business Communication I

BBA

Cant hardly
Aim to proving
Desirous to
Stoled

can hardly
aim to prove
desirous of
stolen

Facts and Figures Accuracy

Check Accuracy of Facts, Figures and words. It is impossible to convey meaning precisely,
through words, from the head of the sender to a receiver. Your goal is to be as precise as possible,
which means checking and double-checking to ensure that the figures, facts and words you use
are correct.
A good check of your data is to have another person read and comment on the validity of the
material.
Figures and facts

Verify your statistical data

Double-check your totals
Avoid guessing at laws that have an impact on you, the sender and your message receiver.
Have someone else read your message if the topic involves data.
Determine whether a fact has changed over time

Proper Use of Confusing Words

English language is constantly changing. In fact, even dictionaries can not keep up with rapid
change in our language. Following words are often confused in usage:
A, An
use a before
consonants and
consonants sounds or
a long u sound. Use
an before vowels.
Accept, except

Anxious, eager

accept is a verb and

means to receive.
Except is a verb or a
preposition and
relates to omitting or
leaving out.
Anxious implies
worry, eager conveys
keen desire.

6
Yousaf Marwat
Lecturer
Iqra National University
Peshawar