January 2004

Speak Your Customers' Language

Clients and prospects need real information and real solutions to their business problems, so don't confuse them with phrases and acronyms that they don't understand.

By Chris Zender

It's a pretty common joke that most companies have their own language. It's not so funny, however, when that language seeps into customer communications and interactions. Here at Tendo we call this "companyspeak," and we apply it to terms not widely recognized by a client's target audience. As a vendor, I expect to hear companyspeak in the course of working with clients. After all, it's my job to decipher this internal language. But I worry when I see it pop up in—or even permeate—companies' communications with their clients.

I understand that different business sectors use unique terminology, but excessive use of internal terms, acronyms, abbreviations, and just plain convoluted language can easily confuse your customers. Even worse, it can alienate them. And forget about your prospects. They've moved on to a company that speaks their language and can tell them in plain English how its products and services can directly benefit them.

The tricky thing about companyspeak is that it creeps up on companies so subtly that they use it without even knowing it. After all, it's the language they use to communicate internally and with their agencies and other vendors. Why shouldn't they use it to speak to their customers? Because this language doesn't mean anything to anyone outside your company. Your customers are looking for real information and real solutions to their business problems, so when they encounter companyspeak they think you don't have what they're looking for.

The object of your company's outbound communications and customer interaction is to deepen current customers' relationships with your company and make lasting connections with prospects. How is this possible if they can't even understand you?

Think about the ways that companyspeak creeps into your communication with customers and prospects:

Call Centers. How many times have you called your insurance carrier to ask a question about benefits, coverage, or billing, only to be met with a string of acronyms, abbreviations, and other companyspeak? Of course, it's not just benefits providers who fall into this trap. You're just as likely to find similar jargon-filled responses when calling a mail-order house or booking travel reservations. To make sure this doesn't happen at your company, train your call center and other customer-facing staff to use as few acronyms and abbreviations as possible, and always make sure they use plain English rather than industry- or company-specific terminology.

Collateral and Advertising. Many companies—particularly in the high-tech industry—make the mistake of listing the benefits of their products and services in companyspeak. If customers and prospects can't understand the advantages you provide, why would they spend their money with you? IBM and Microsoft, both former contributors to the companyspeak Hall of Fame, have reformed and now produce a string of TV commercials and print advertisements that celebrate the everyday successes people can achieve with their products.

One-to-One Interaction. Recently we met with a representative from one of our benefits providers. During the meeting, she listed the material she was leaving behind for us: "This is a list of providers, this is a contact sheet, this is a slick…." Wait, what? All marketers know what a "slick" is, but only because most of us have had to produce one. To her audience, the document isn't a slick; it's a fact sheet for a mutual fund. This illustrates how easy it is to slip into companyspeak. You want your customers and prospects to purchase your goods and services. In order for them to do this, they must clearly understand what you're selling.

Company Web Site. Companyspeak often takes on more widespread—and more insidious—forms. For example, companies that routinely use their own internal language often extend that internal focus to the structure and nomenclature of their websites. This often forces prospects and customers to go through a labyrinthine process to locate the product, services, and information they need. Structure your site around what your customers are looking for—not your company's internal initiatives, clever product names, or obscure terminology that only a select few will understand. That's what your intranet is for.

About the author:

Chris Zender is Tendo's editorial director. email her your favorite examples of companyspeak at chrisz@tendocom.com.