Hey ,
Instead of sending you over to this week's blog post, I wanted to share a sizzling hot lesson, right here, right now.
As I came on the Super Shuttle from the Dallas airport to the Marriott, where I'm attending the National Speaker's Association Winter Workshop, I had a funny conversation with the driver. He told me about a previous passenger who had commented that the area was nice but had a lot of "cougars." I immediately grinned because the driver was an incredibly dishy (read handsome) Latino under forty (I'm guessing) and I'd have been a cougar if I was interested (I must stop reading those steamy romance novels!)
He said in heavily accented English, that he'd looked up "cougar" and only saw a reference to mountain lions. I asked if he wanted to know what the guy meant and he gave me the greenlight so I explained. He thought it was funny because he doesn't think he is young enough for a woman to be a cougar to him. I didn't go any further, just grinned and left it at that.
Of course, he did offer me the name of a friend of his with a limo for my return trip. Lesson #2, always talk to strangers!
What on earth does this have to do with your business? Actually a lot ... you see too often because we are experts in our industry, our language and our culture we forget that not everyone is. By using trade terms or even colloquialisms (that's a mouthful) we may be creating a trail of confusion and potential misunderstanding. After all, not everyone wants to admit they need clarification. So pay attention not just to your terminology but to slang expressions you might use that someone else might not know or understand. This meaning wasn't in Webster's! LOL. Lesson #1 BE CLEAR, SPEAK SIMPLY!
If you missed this week's earlier post, here it is! I know you don't want to make MEATHEAD MARKETING MISTAKES!
http://melissagalt.com/are-you-mismarketing-your-brand/
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