Somewhere in the subtext of yesterday’s post about what R.O.I. is and isn’t lives the realization that business managers and marketing people speak different languages. A few of you touched on this in your comments, so great job zeroing-in on the fact that each side has its own unique vocabulary, its own nomenclature, it’s own lingo. Most of the time, that’s all fine and good, but when the two come together to discuss business objectives (and ROI), miscommunication ensues. One side says one thing and the other hears something else altogether. Before you know it, execution misses the mark, expectations from both sides are crushed, and everyone is shaking their heads wondering what happened.
“Did you hear them say the wanted X?”
“Yeah, I did! That’s what they said they wanted.”
Except what the agency folks thought they heard wasn’t X at all.
So now, a little bit of organizational psychobabble that might actually come in handy, for once:
The first step in eliminating a dysfunction is to recognize that there is dysfunction. (Situational Awareness)
The second step in eliminating dysfunction is to understand the dysfunction. (Discovery and Analysis)
The third step in eliminating dysfunction is to accept the nature of the dysfunction. (Reckoning and Confirmation)
The fourth step in eliminating dysfunction is to address the dysfunction. (Solution and Execution)
Start with step one and work your way up to step four. Once you get there, here’s what you need to do:
If you’re on the agency/service provider side of the fence, start hanging out with business people. (Yes, the ones wearing the suits and ties. The ones who speak in acronyms and talk about revenue, ROI, payroll, net new customers, disti channels and stuff you can’t wrap your mind around.) Pick their brains. Ask them to explain what matters to them the most. What they get goaled on. How they measure success in their organizations. Ask them to clarify what they are talking about, even if that means explaining it all to you like you are a five-year-old.You need to learn this stuff: The lingo, the culture, the priorities, the aspirations, etc. Learn their business, their culture and their lingo.
If you’re on the business/client side, start mentoring your agency reps and marketing folks. Immerse them into your company culture. Show them how your business makes money. Show them how you are structured and why. Teach them your own unique vernacular. Show them what data you capture and what you do with it. Frame for them what matters most to you as a business leader. Help them see your business from your point of view. Teach them how you think. Get them on the same wavelength as you.
If you can do this, if you follow these simple suggestions, I promise you that your agency-client relationship will radically improve in a matter of weeks. Six months from now, you will be functioning like a well-oiled machine.
Wouldn’t that be swell?
Could it be as simple as setting up a mentoring program between client and agency or business and marketing folks? Is that all it would take for this communication and cultural rift to go bye-bye?
You bet.
Have a great Thursday, everyone. (And um… we’re back on R.O.I. tomorrow. Andrew Mueller found a Social Media R.O.I. calculator I need to go over with you.)
You hit this one on the head. One of the main keys to selling/marketing anything is to build a relationship of trust. If your client or potential client doesn’t trust you, then you’re going to lose them. Knowing the language of your client is a key factor in building that relationship of trust. If you don’t know how to talk the language of your client, the client will notice, and will move on to someone who cares enough to learn the lingo.
I’m beginning to think that all your videos and blogs are borderline subliminal..
Fantastic advice. I’ve been on both ends of that disconnect stick. It’s not fun for anyone.
What do you mean, “borderline”? I’m in your brain right now, telling you to read more of my old posts!
Woe is the marketer who doesn’t understand business needs, process and terminology. You nailed it. Too often, marketing and advertising folk miss this critical point. And it always shows. Great post!
Holy crap Olivier. This is good stuff.
Can I send you the bills for taking my clients out to lunch? What with the wine and all, these French people really know how to stack it up.
😀 I aim to please, brother.
Excellent Post, and how incredibly true. So many times people go into meetings with an agenda and try to shove it down the clients throat, and don’t bother to listen to the clients needs/wants/ideas anything. The client could be speaking Japanese and they wouldn’t know it.
Pitch them something they are interested in – something fresh and exciting things that THEY can relate to, things they actually want.