Are You Using the Language of Your Customer?

Communication strategies that align with the language of your customer are vital. Here’s why.

I recently received a text message from my optometrist who let me know that it was time for my regular eye check. So, I dutifully made an appointment and made my way to the shop at the appointment time. I had my eye test done by a different optometrist than the last time, and the test showed that perhaps my sight had gotten a little bit worse.

During the test, the optometrist asked me to read some things and suggested that I needed a slightly stronger prescription for my ‘readers’. I readily agreed to this since the writing appeared lovely and clear with the new lenses. I picked out some gorgeous new frames, paid for my glasses with the receptionist (who also referred to them as ‘readers’) and went home.

I wear my glasses all the time – when I work, when I read, and just walk around the house. The last time I had my eyes checked, the optometrist asked me if I wore them all the time. But this time, they hadn’t. They had only tested them with reading. And so, when I got my new glasses and put them on, I found that I couldn’t walk around the house with them. The prescription was too strong, everything was blurry, and they simply didn’t work for me.

And this was because they had never asked me the most important question – how do you wear your glasses?

Of course, they were using language that might have clued me in. Both the optometrist and the receptionist had referred to them as ‘readers’. But that was their language. It wasn’t my language. I’ve only just started wearing glasses, and I hadn’t really heard this term before. I didn’t understand there was a difference between glasses only for reading and those for daily use. And because they didn’t use the customer’s language (my language), I missed getting the prescription that I really needed, which wasted my time having to reorder them and come back at a later date to collect, and I was buying two pairs so it wasn’t a cheap exercise.

Customer-centric communication language & strategies

When it comes to servicing your own customers and clients, are you using customer-focused language and communication strategies? My experience at the optometrist demonstrates why it’s so important to do this.

My husband Mark and I had a conversation about it at home and he said “Maybe you need something like bifocals?”. However, this is not something that I had the experience to recognise. But it was left to me to somehow deduce this was what I needed because I wasn’t asked the right questions, and the language and communication strategies used were not customer focused.

Your customers and clients are likely in the same position. They don’t know what they need to ask for. If you really want to help them, you need to be able to speak to them in their own language, to use the words they use and to ask the questions that will help you get to the bottom of their problem, otherwise you may just be contributing to it. It’s like moving to another country – you need to learn the language to really get along.

What stops customer-focused communication?

Your communication strategies may not be customer focused for a few reasons – and not because you don’t want to help. Most often it’s because we’re simply too close to our own expertise or we don’t ask the right questions.

Too close to our own expertise

When we’re experts in a certain space, we can get too used to what we know and forget that others might not understand the same things we do. We just get caught up and assume that our customers and clients understand what we’re talking about and the language that we’re using. This leads to miscommunications, solutions that miss the mark and sometimes more problems than before.

Don’t ask the right questions

Another thing that stops us from developing strong communication strategies with our clients and customers is not asking the right questions. When we ask the right questions, we’re able to really get to the root of their problems and devise the right solutions for them.

For example, if the optometrist had asked me how I wore my glasses, they would have immediately realised that I didn’t need ‘readers’ but something like bifocals. And I would have had a fantastic result from my visit. Instead, because they didn’t ask the right questions, I was left with a less-than-desirable result and had the inconvenience of having to go back into the shop again to fix the glasses that weren’t working for me.

Empathy is the solution

To keep yourself focused on using the customer’s language, you need to keep empathetic. You might have done this work 1000 times – but for your customer or client, this might be the first time. You need to be empathetic to their situation, to their knowledge and to their problems, so you can offer the right solutions.

As Brené Brown says, ‘Empathy is not connecting to an experience; it’s connecting to the emotions that underpin an experience.’

Remember, you’re the expert. They’re coming to you for guidance, not to just give them what they think they want. And in order to give the right guidance, you need to be able to use the right language. But to do this, you need to have empathy! 

I’d love to know your thoughts….