The Hidden Price Tag of Poor Communication in Small Business
- Kit Merkley
- Oct 23
- 4 min read
In 2018, a group of dairy truck drivers in Maine won a $5 million lawsuit against their employer, Oakhurst Dairy. The issue? Not working conditions. Not pay rates. Not safety.
It was a comma.
A missing Oxford comma in the company’s overtime policy created just enough legal ambiguity for the drivers to successfully argue they’d been denied wages they were owed. That tiny punctuation mark cost the company millions.
Now, you might not have $5 million riding on your grammar. But poor communication can still cost your small business — in sales lost, customers frustrated, employees disengaged, and hours wasted.
The bill may not arrive all at once, but make no mistake: the meter is always running.
The Hard Numbers
This isn’t just theory. Research keeps proving the cost of unclear communication.
Grammarly Business and The Harris Poll recently found that poor communication costs U.S. businesses an average of $12,506 per employee every year. Multiply that across even a small team of 10, and that’s $125,000 annually — gone.
Gallup studies show similar trends: businesses with strong communication practices are more engaged, more profitable, and significantly more likely to retain employees. On the flip side, those with weak communication bleed money through inefficiency, rework, and turnover.
For small business owners already running on thin margins, that’s not just a nuisance. It’s the difference between growth and stagnation.
Where Small Businesses Feel It Most
The Fortune 500 might throw money at consultants when communication breaks down. But in small businesses, the impact is immediate and personal. Here’s where it shows up most:
1. Missed Sales
A proposal goes out with vague wording. The customer assumes a feature is included that actually isn’t. The deal collapses.
Or worse: the customer buys — only to realize later they didn’t get what they thought they were paying for. Cue refunds, angry calls, and bad reviews.
2. Wasted Time and Rework
An owner tells the team, “Let’s get the Johnson job wrapped up.” The employee thinks that means “make progress this week.” The owner meant “finish it today.” Work gets redone, time gets burned, and frustration builds on both sides.
3. Customer Confusion
Customers don’t always fully understand your product — and businesses don’t always fully understand their customer’s needs. That gap is where money disappears. If you’re not explaining clearly what you deliver, and listening carefully to what they actually want, both sides leave disappointed.
4. Team Morale
Few things are more demotivating than working hard on the wrong thing. Employees who feel like they’re constantly guessing at priorities stop putting in their best effort. Clarity is rocket fuel; vagueness is quicksand.
Why It Happens
So why do smart, hardworking people keep tripping over the same communication cracks?
Assumptions: Owners assume employees “just get it.” Employees assume owners meant “this week” when they actually meant “this hour.”
Speed Over Clarity: In the rush of daily operations, slowing down to clarify feels like a luxury. So everyone keeps moving — just not in the same direction.
Customer Disconnects: Businesses often oversimplify (“Don’t worry, this package has everything you need”) or under-explain. Meanwhile, they fail to dig deep into what the customer really cares about. The result: mismatched expectations.
Poor communication doesn’t usually come from bad intent. It comes from rushing, assuming, and forgetting that clarity takes effort.
How to Fix It
The good news: better communication isn’t complicated. It just requires a few deliberate habits.
1. Be Specific
“Soon” is not a deadline. “Later” is not a timeline. “We’ll handle it” is not a plan. Replace vague phrases with dates, times, and names.
Instead of “We’ll get back to you soon.” → “I’ll call you Thursday at 2 PM.”
Instead of “Let’s get this done quickly.” → “I need this draft finished by Friday morning.”
Specificity removes wiggle room and builds accountability.
2. Repeat Key Points
People absorb information differently. Some need to hear it. Some need to read it. Some need to see it in writing after the meeting. Repeating yourself in different formats isn’t overkill — it’s leadership.
3. Clarify Roles
Unclear ownership creates bottlenecks. When giving direction, name names. Who is doing what, and by when? If three people walk away assuming “someone else has it,” nobody has it.
4. Ask Clarifying Questions
Don’t just nod and move on. Ask the extra question:
“So when you say X, do you mean Y?”
“How would this affect the customer’s experience?”
“What’s the next step from here?”
In sales, clarifying questions uncover the real problem. In management, they prevent rework. In customer service, they stop small frustrations from becoming full-blown complaints.
Conclusion: The Real Price of Silence
The Oxford comma case made headlines because it was funny. Who loses millions over punctuation? But beneath the humor is a serious lesson: small miscommunications lead to big consequences.
Your business may not lose $5 million over a missing comma, but unclear emails, vague instructions, and misunderstood customer needs are already costing you — in hours, in sales, and in reputation.
Clear communication isn’t “soft skills.” It’s infrastructure. It’s as much a growth tool as your CRM, your website, or your best salesperson.
Every time you clarify a message, you save time. Every time you repeat a key point, you reinforce alignment. Every time you ask one more question, you prevent a costly mistake.
The cost of poor communication isn’t invisible. It’s showing up on your P&L — whether you see it or not.
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