Ikea Communication Essay Example

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She was smiling as well, so this gives a clear message to customers that embers of staff are genuinely there to help you with your questions and are glad to do so. Spoken communication can be in the form of speaking over the telephone, giving speeches and holding meetings or interviews. Most of these are also face-to-face except for talking over the telephone. This is also a common way for businesses to communicate, especially if they are talking to suppliers or another type of customer whom is far away. A problem with this though is that no automatic written ‘evidence’ is kept unless one person keeps notes, so important conversations may become forgotten.Written communication This method of communication can vary in length; a quick message can be written down on a small piece of paper or a contract can be drawn up which consists of countless pages and words.

The three main documents which businesses use are explained below. Legal contracts A legal contract between businesses is a formal agreement which includes certain details about this agreement that cannot be broken. If they are, this is used as evidence in court, stating that there was in fact a contract and a business breached the conditions. MemosA memo (short for ‘Memorandum’) is a document which is given to all employees of a business when the company has an announcement to make.

These are usually short and carry an important message which has to be seen by the staff. Normally, memos include details on when the next staff meeting is or when there is a day off work for all. Financial accounts These financial documents are

kept in order to keep track of the businesses transactions and are basically a plan of all the finances of the company. These are kept so they can know how much profit (or loss) they are making by operating.In these cases, the writing needs to be clear so the recipient of it can understand fully because they cannot ask questions to a piece of paper; if they had a question they would have to ask the person who wrote it.

Visual communication The main areas of visual communication will be explained below, including the use of posters, television adverts, signs and even the professionalism of the employees. Advertisements and posters Advertisements are created in order to persuade potential customers to shop at the business’ store.For this reason, they have to catch their eye with either sales promotional offers or just promoting the business as a welcoming one. Examples are shown below by Ikea. Signage When people enter Ikea, their most frequent question is “where do I go? ” because it is a very large shop.

This is why Ikea have signs in various places to indicate where a specific product range is. They also have a ‘map’ placed in some places of the store too, in case some people do get lost and have to find their way back. Exits are also marked clearly with the standard green sign.Staff and the premises This type of visual communication portrays the business once a customer visits it. They can judge the store by the products it provides, but they also judge it by how presentable the staffs look and how knowledgeable they are, and also how clean

the premises are. Products of the business The products at Ikea are displayed in an attractive way, as shown above.

They portray a real-life room using only their products in order to give their customers ideas and tips on how they would like their rooms organised. Every oom in a basic house is shown and ‘re-enacted’ in Ikea, like a baby’s room below: Electronic communication Having a method which the business can be reached by using technology (specifically the internet) is great. This is because customers can surf the net in their own time when they feel comfortable doing so, and this enables them access to the business’ website anytime they wish. This provides them with a relaxing atmosphere and they feel at ease with no staff there to watch their every move, or the guilt of walking into a physical store and not purchasing an item.The business can answer questions, use e-commerce and take orders which are made by customers and they are responsive in this way.

Below is a screenshot of the Ikea website in the United Kingdom, and the methods to contact them listed on the ‘contact us’ page. Electronic communication is not just about having a website; there are other aspects to it too. E-commerce is available on Ikea’s website to selected countries, and they provide an e-mail address to customers who have queries about their business.A customer services telephone number is given on the ‘contact page’ too, so if someone wishes to talk to the business using that particular method, they can find out how through the website. When visited, Ikea assured me that they had surveillance cameras in the

store in order to keep a watch on what is going on.

When an employee wants to reach another colleague, they have pager-like devices in which they communicate and contact each other with. This is useful because if the manager is urgently needed to handle a difficult situation, the employee can contact him or her through this effective method.