It is not unusual for the beginning of the year to bring on “New Year, New Me” vibes. This year, MadCap Marketing would love for people everywhere to feel more confident when communicating. While we are in the actual business of effective and powerful communication, everyone in every industry relies on clear and concise communication to accomplish their goals. Let’s chat about what that can look like. It’s easier than you think!
Have you ever had to describe someone to a professional in their field and found it to be the most anxiety provoking experience? Imagine starting your car in the morning to drive to your not-at-all-related-to-the-automotive-industry-job where you perform wonderfully and confidently. You know your field inside and out. People respect you, and listen to your advice. Now, you know how to drive your car, and you are meticulous with a maintenance schedule. You do all the right things. However, one morning, this confidence goes right out the window, because the car is making a terrible sound, and you have no idea what is causing it. Stressful, right?
Now, let’s add some layers to this scenario. Maybe you’re particularly young. Maybe you’re a single female. Maybe you are newly on your own. You know you can’t fix the problem; and you also know you have to describe what’s going on to someone who can. Any success and accolades you have achieved in your own field somehow now feel completely irrelevant, as you agonize over having to call a repair shop to say things like “it’s making a clunka clunka clunka sound under the hood on the passenger’s side”. Sounds horrifying, right? Truth be told, it is exactly the information that can be useful to the professionals in that field.
Even though you may think you want to confidently describe the rate of idling, and the wear on the piston rings, which gasket is leaking, and which valve is sticking, the trained mechanics and service technicians at the shop you seek out absolutely do not expect this from you. What they do appreciate is clear information and an honest description of what brought you to them in the first place. Did this issue start today? Or has it been something that you’ve been driving with for the last 18 months? That “clunka clunka clunka” sound in the area you’ve indicated might be exactly one thing and one thing only, and a technician will be able to pinpoint it earlier with your help exactly the way you delivered it. Stumbling over the self-inflicted stress of using industry terms in an industry you’re not familiar with may actually lead to misdiagnosis, additional hours spent trying to find the issue, and more money spent on your end. None of that sounds good.
Now, what in the world does any of that have to do with MadCap Marketing? Everything, actually. When we work with clients, we want them to love the final product, regardless of what it is. It might be an event: we want them to love it. It might be a website: we want them to love it. It might be an entire brand buildout: guess what…we want them to love it.
When clients receive their product from us, we want the experience to be so satisfying that it almost seems effortless. A “YES! THIS IS IT!!” experience, if you will. When changes or edits of any kind need to happen, we want to be able to make it right for the client as quickly as possible. The best way for any creative professional to deliver what the client wants, is to get clear instruction. Do we need you to know HTML? Absolutely not. Do we need you to know the ins and outs of digital marketing analytics? Again, no. We want you, the client, to be proud of how you’re being represented in the larger marketplace. So, that comes down to clear communication about what you need from us. No special dictionary needed!
If you’re looking at your webpage, and you want the “stuff on the left hand side” to be “up at the top”, that’s what we want to hear. If you want “a scrolling message across the middle of the page letting customers know we’re having a sale”, then it’s best to say just that. Don’t waste any time trying to figure out what the terms are; just tell us what you want to see! We know the terms, because we are experts in our field. We, as marketing professionals, also call the mechanic and describe the noise as “clunka clunka” or “weeewoooo weeeeoooo”. We know what we know, and they know what they know. This is the best thing about this big wide world. Experts doing their expert thing.
This year, let’s commit to increasing communication and decreasing overthinking. Imagine the time we will save and the difference we will make. Let’s make this year something special!