Listen. What do you hear?
Voices? Yes, but who is talking?
I don’t know. They are speaking in a tongue I don’t understand.
It resembles English, but the words they are using and the manner in which they are communicating makes absolutely no sense to me. It’s gibberish. They might as well be speaking the language of Sauron, because what I’m hearing is positively artificial.
It’s remarkable, isn’t it, that politicians today continue to talk to you instead of engaging in a conversation? Many of us are turned off and tune out because we sense we are inconsequential. Our words and what is important to us seem to fall on deaf ears. And what we hear coming out of the mouths of our elected officials is polished propaganda. Their words make no sense to us because they don’t reflect our truths, our realities.
It’s maddeningly frustrating.
As a business owner or marketing professional, take great care to ensure you are not guilty of acting like a politician. Listen to your customers. Give them multiple channels to communicate: email, social media, webinars, conferences, and the ancient form of face-to-face human interaction. For written messages, reply quickly and give a complete and honest response.
Via all of these methods, make certain you and your employees engage in a genuine dialogue and converse in a respectful and natural i.e. not rushed manner. Give the customer the time it takes to address their needs. There should be no buzzwords, catchphrases or “standard company lines”. Guidelines may be acceptable, but scripted responses should be avoided.
Be authentic, be accessible and be the voice of your customer. When you speak a common language, you have the foundation for a long and mutually rewarding relationship.
It’s simple common sense, which may be why it escapes politicians.
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