What language do you use to speak to your customers?
Posted by Amy Bell on 26 November 2018

When I ask, what language do you speak? I don’t mean language in the classic sense of English, Spanish or Chinese; although that is relevant and an important element of your business. I am referring to the words and phrases used to describe your products and services.

One of the biggest risks for a business is miscommunication, and in my experience, it can also be the most commonly made mistake. Miscommunication can lead to confusion about products and services, or to campaigns that don’t engage the audience or lead to sales.

Language of the communications business

So why, if we as owners and experts in our sectors, are we falling short? It’s simple, we use the wrong words.

More often than not, we think in the language of our industry, sector or specialism, and forget that others use the same words for very different things, and some don’t use them at all. How many times have you looked for a new product, or started a new job, and been bombarded with a pile of acronyms you don’t understand?

We are all guilty of speaking in our own language from time to time, even when we try really hard not to. We are programmed by our education and our experience to use the words which come most naturally to us and our environments

I use the word communications to mean the whole story; the narrative, message, language and methods an organisation uses to engage. This includes engagement with its customers, stakeholders, employees and the wider world, including; PR, marketing, sales, etc. – it is literally everything you say and do. Others use communications to describe the corporate message or the telecommunications used.

My advice.

  • Take some time to review what you say before you say it or send it.
  • Think about what words and descriptions your customers would use and,
  • keep things simple. You will connect with more people and avoid a lot of miscommunication.

Alternatively, get in touch to organise a one to one session to help you re-discover your language.

“Since day one, Amy herself has fit seamlessly into our team, understanding the message we want to convey and the audiences we want to reach. Her upfront audit was invaluable in helping us internally hone our common voice, which has demonstrated itself in the consistency of the content we put out as a brand and as individuals within the company. Behind the scenes, Amy has instinctively adopted our internal communication methods (Slack, SharePoint) and works closely with our in-house graphic design team to ensure our graphics and copy are in sync.” Lucy Prior MBE - previously from 3Squared 2021
“After meeting Amy a few years ago, I was able to provide her with an opportunity to manage the comms on a major alliance, alongside Marie from Doodle HR, which she flourished at. Amy helped me to implement a more structured approach, freeing up my time to work more closely with clients and create new content. Hey Me are easy to deal with and quick to provide valuable solutions; I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Amy and the team again” Karen Duncan - Lanehead Coniston
“Working with Hey Me is very straight forward - they take you through whatever process is needed, with clear instruction and good ideas. Since working with Hey Me, Zak Mobility now has a strong brand identity and purposeful website that is fit for purpose. I would recommend Hey Me to other companies, as they do a professional job with a friendly face.” Sam Pearce - CEO, Zak Mobility
“As a member of the RIA SME Leadership team, Amy ran a slimdown version of the Hey Me messaging workshops in 2023. The workshops helped the team to delve deeper into what the SME group stood for, what it meant to them as individuals and businesses and what they wanted to gain from communications. By holding up a mirror to those in the group and using a tiered approach, the group was able to find a common purpose and with Hey Me's help, a common language which best represented the aims of the leadership team and our RIA SME members. The fantastic results of this can be seen in action on our SME page of our website.” Isabella Lawson - Railway Industry Association

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