Integral Communication is Communication considered from the angle of both External Communication (aimed at clients, suppliers, institutions…) and Internal Communication (workers, shareholders…). With this integrative approach, the different communicational expressions of the company can be harmonized, achieving a sum of messages that form a unique and effective message. The result is a solid image, consistent with the identity of the company.
On the other hand, the culture of this country, that of “improvisation”, makes it difficult for Planning to be established in our companies as the basis for the strategic use of any management tool. For this reason, its use is limited to specific actions that are not related to each other, which increase the cost and reduce the efficiency. Furthermore, these actions tend to respond to stereotyped models of action and business cultural habits that prompt the same types of actions to be repeated over and over again without questioning their effectiveness in depth.
Thus, the investment normally considered an expense is not usually the result of planning and communication objectives, but rather of the liquidity of the moment or of rigid budgets established in previous years.
All this hinders the appearance of conceptual changes in the management and direction of Communication in SMEs, many of them still focused on production, sales and financial management as the only competitive weapons.
SMEs need professionals capable of understanding their peculiar idiosyncrasy and who know how to adapt to it, working side by side with the day-to-day management of the company, with affordable costs and visible results in the short term, implementing global plans in stages through the definition of Communication, which can be achieved gradually and progressively.
These professionals must be Communication Generalists (and not just specialists in any of their techniques or tools) to be able to advise in a flexible, neutral and global way. They must also be able to train management teams in Communication and understand their problems, so they should have knowledge not only in Comprehensive Communication but in Marketing, Management and Human Resources, as well as extensive experience in different sectors of activity.
Fantasy plans, comfortable standard solutions, excessive budgets or radical changes are not for SMEs.
As Antonio Machado said in one of his poems: "Wayfarer, there is no path, the path is made by walking."
