HWW #36 – How Far Is Far? Why Jargon Is *Killing* Your Sales

Hi folks,

Chris “Mr. Moneyfingers” Haddad here with a very, very late edition of HWW.

I’ve been down in LA the last couple days at Eben Pagan’s “Altitude” program.

If you don’t know who Eben Pagan is, you should. He built a $20 Million dollar a year “Dating Advice” empire in 6 short years and is easily one of the smartest and savviest marketing minds I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

Most of the seminars I’ve been to in my marketing career have been pricy and badly disguised pitch-athons, but my two days at Altitude were nothing but great networking and pure content.

You can sign up for Eben’s list at http://www.getaltitude.com.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the main event:

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How Far Is “Far?” – Why Jargon is *Killing* Your Sales
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A bit over a year ago, my good friends Scott and Mason flew out to Seattle for a couple days of intense male bonding.

And we had a *great* time.

We trekked out to Snoqualmie Falls, marveled at the Sci-Fi Museum, rocked it at the Experience Music Project , basked in the Seattle sunshine (I swear, it really doesn’t rain that much. Really.) and generally acted like giddy and goofy tourists just getting a taste for life on the coast.

Like I said, it was a great visit and a lot of fun . . .

*Until I Made The Big Mistake Of Suggesting We Go Out For Pizza.*

This was on day four of a four day visit. We were all tired and punchy and sick of being in the same room. And we were *hungry.* After 10 minutes of trying to figure out what to eat, we had this conversation:

Me: “Let’s just go out and grab some pizza. There’s a place right down the street.”
Them: “Is it far?”
Me: “Far?”
Them: “We’re tired and punchy and weak with hunger. We don’t want to walk far.”
Me: “No, it’s not far at all. It’s just down the street. I go there for lunch all the time.”

And to me it really *wasn’t* far. I’ve been a car-free American for about 3 years now, walk *everywhere* and, more importantly, am used to the staggering and brutal hills that make up the Seattle landscape.

Mason and Scott? Well, not so much.

It took a bit, but . . .

*After About Ten Minutes Of Marching I Figured Out That *My* Definition Of “Far” And *Their* Definition Of Far Were About As Similar As Apples And Nuclear Warheads.*

Them: “Dear God, are we there yet? I thought you said it wasn’t far?”
Me: “It’s not. We’re almost there.”
Them: “You said it was down the street!”
Me: “It is down the street!”
Them: “Which street?”
Me: “That street!”
Them: “That street is far!”

And it kind of went on from there. I think at one point we devolved into a Laurel and Hardy routine. Scott was so hungry that he decided to take his chances with some wild berries we saw on the way (that was a mistake.) And Mason did something that I don’t want to talk about here but that still makes we wake in the night covered in sweat and wishing for chocolate.

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“Alright, Haddad, But What The Heck Does This Have To Do With Marketing?”
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Good question, and one that I even have an answer to.

You see, the problem I had with Scott and Mason is pretty darned similar to a problem a lot of businesses have when they try to talk to their customers.

A lot of businesses (especially tech companies, medical pros and folks who sell supposedly complicated products and services) fill their marketing with words that mean one thing to them, and something completely different to the people they’re trying to sell to . . . .

Or worse yet, they pack their ads, websites and brochures with all sorts of fancy proprietary jargon that means a lot to them (“Our solution solutionator uses the latest in solutionization schemes to solutionize!”) but that leaves their prospects confused, annoyed and feeling abused . . . . and are confused when the money *doesn’t* come rolling in.

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So How Can You Conquer The Jargon Plague And Make Sure You’re Actually Speaking Your Customers Language?
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Well, I’ve got two *really* simple ways to obliterate jargon and figure out what words actually mean to your customers.

1. Visit forums and message boards that your customers use and pay really close attention to how the average folks on the board (not the super technical folks who go to message boards to feel good about themselves) talk.

And (this next one is shocking.)

2. Ask them.

You see, if I had just asked Scott and Mason what they meant by “Far” before heading off on our deadly zombie march to the pizza place, I would saved us all a lot of horror and heartache.

And if you just ask your own customers (over email, through a survey or even one on one) what the language around your product or service means to them, you’ll earn more customers, make more sales and pocket more money.

And that’s it, folks.

I’ll be posting something new to the blog (http://www.haddadink.com/blog) next week. If you have any questions or comments, you can hit me up at chris@haddadink.com

And you can learn more about me at http://www.haddadink.com.

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