Hey Reader!

Have you ever asked a team member for something...and then weeks later had to send a second follow-up to get it?

This is a painfully relatable experience.

It's the reason freelancers have to charge for deliverables AND the time it takes to communicate with clients. If they don't charge for those follow-ups — they're profits decrease as they eat into their "hourly" wage by writing follow-up emails.

• What if every task was completed on time?
• What if you didn't need to send follow ups to managers, employees, or freelancers?
• What if things were always getting done in a timely manner?

No, this isn't a dream world.

It's called accountability—and it's make or break in business communication.

⭐️ Business Communication Tip

Recurring requests can take away efficiency and productivity if the request isn’t properly communicated. Imagine having a weekly meeting where team members keep missing the mark on what you need and what to do after because nobody actually knows what’s going on.

Cue the frustration, Reader.

Example of a Recurring Requests: Asking your team to communicate metrics every Friday during a team meeting and take action as necessary afterwards.

Seems simple enough, right?

There are some of you laughing (painfully) a little right now.

Let’s fix that.

Here’s exactly what to avoid when making a recurring request:

The problem with this request is that it lacks accountability to getting the task done. As a recurring request, where your team is aware they’ll always be asked to take action based on the meeting—you want to be so clear as to when that action will take place that you can put it in your calendar.

With the current conversation, you don’t know when the team member:

• Will look into it
• Will know what the problem was
• Will have a solution

Both parties leave frustrated with the other, which doesn’t lead to better communication in the future. It generally leads to tough conversations down the line, as both parties keep missing their self assigned marks—without communicating it to the other.

Let’s change that experience.

Remember, communication > talking

Eva Gutierrez

P.S. Reader, did you know that Productive Business Communication is purchased on a per seat basis? You choose how many logins you need at checkout based on the number of employees you want to share the training with.

• If you're a freelancer — you buy one training.
• If you have team of 10 — you buy 10 trainings.
• If you just want to share it with your executive team — you buy trainings per each executive.

Save money, save time, and get things done faster than the competition by creating a well-oiled machine of a team that understands the fundamentals of communication like:

• How to make requests (new, recurring, rare)
• How to take requests (new, recurring, rare)
• How to structure requests (written and spoken)
• How to have tough conversations

The training is 1.5 hours long and comes with 3 Communication Checklists to keep on your desktop. Use the Communication Checklists to stay on track while you build your habit of productive communication.

Soon enough—it'll come naturally and everyone will wonder how the hell you're able to get so much done.

Amplify your business and team with Productive Business Communication.

Share with friends, get a free PBC training! Have friends who'd benefit from a weekly business communication too? Give them your unique referral link (below) and get free access to the How to Take a Request module of PBC. [RH_REFLINK GOES HERE] Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Share via email PS: You have referred [RH_TOTREF GOES HERE] people so far

​