Business Communication Trends Within the Payday Loan Industry

Business Communication Trends

With the massive amounts of change occurring within the US over the last few years, it is no great surprise that businesses must adapt with the shifting environment if they wish to stay afloat. Natural disasters, economic recession and the ever-progressing technology field will affect the business world and how the business world communicates. In the payday loan industry, where communication is a main factor in the day-to-day life, three major trends can be observed. The trends of technology, teamwork and rapid rate of change are affecting how the payday loan industry communicates.

Role of Communication

The payday loan industry is an industry of communication. In the business life of an assistant manager, communication will be used to inform customers of services provided, clarify information for colleagues and customers, to persuade customers to use more services and to build goodwill, both within the company and with customers.

Effect of Communication

When communication is effective, the assistant manager can complete many activities within an average day. The main activity in the payday loan industry is helping customers. This would involve speaking, listening (both to words and nonverbal indicators) and reading. One must listen to the customer to determine what type of service to provide. One must speak to inform the customer of the services provided. One must also read contracts and checks to ensure proper procedure is followed during the transaction. If any of these types of communication are done incorrectly, time and effort is wasted in correcting the problem. "Ineffective messages don't get results" (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 11). One of the items on the job description of the assistant manager is to provide services in an effective manner. Good communication can help the employee in succeeding at his or her job.

Communication Trends

Now that it has been established how important communication is to the payday loan industry, the trends affecting communication can be examined. Technology is a trend affecting how quickly employees communicate with each other and with customers in the payday loan industry. "Technology advancements provide instant communication with the click of a button" (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 14). With the advent of online technology, customers can now go online to obtain a payday loan. This affects how employees communicate with customers by reorganizing to whom the customer speaks. Now the online customer rarely speaks with an employee unless there is a problem. Because store employees cannot access online accounts, a new department was created to assist online customers. Technology also affects how the company can communicate with employees. Training is now mostly done online and by podcasts from members of the corporate office. This helps to ensure even training to all employees. All new employees receive the same message. This saves time and effort versus the old individual training that could lead to gaps in the new employee's education.

Teamwork

"More and more companies are getting work done through teams" (Locker & Kienzler, 2008, p. 18). The payday loan is no different. Tellers are encouraged to assist each other when possible in