I’m currently researching a new market segment for my employer. Obviously, part of this is understanding what individual companies do and how they fit into the industry. I have only a decade’s experience in business, but I think that should be enough to understand what it is companies do. However, decoding what these companies do is incredibly difficult. I am not just talking about jargon, but about clear attempts by companies to avoid saying what they do (usually by listing benefits, “we help companies to maximize work flow efficiencies..”).
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Continuing on from my post about jargon, something that stuck with me from the seminal dotcom, the-world-will-never-be-the-same-again-whoop-whoop, book “The Cluetrain Manifesto” is the phrase “corporations should speak with a human voice”. The premise being that we as consumers, even as business people in our working lives, have become cynical and distrusting of stiff language designed to keep us at a distance “We value your business. Your call is important to us.”, and that people want to deal with straight-talking people like them, not corporate automatons.
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Next time you feel like suggesting that a prospect leverages your organization’s paradigm shifting business 2.0 capabilities remember this BBC article.