If you have been reading my Monday Morning Messages, you know that I focus a lot on the language we use, and the impact it has. Subtle changes in how we say things can make a big difference in how our sentiments are perceived, and how the recipient responds. Similarly, subtle changes in the words we use to label or describe departments and services can create significant attitudinal changes in the way our teams behave.
Think about alternative labels for jobs, and whether a label causes team members to focus more on the company’s needs or the customers’ needs. Consider ‘Account Manager’ versus ‘Customer Success Manager.’ Putting the word ‘customer’ first puts a completely different spin on the role and makes it clear that it is about them. Focusing on ‘success’ highlights the ultimate purpose of the role. The job is not to manage accounts on behalf of the company; it is about ensuring the customers are successful. How about ‘Product Support’ versus ‘Customer Support?’ The latter is about making sure the customer gets what they need, while the former is more inside-out and narrow. Product support sounds like an extension of engineering. In the extreme, if the product is the focus of support, it can lead to answers that sound like ‘the product is working as designed,’ instead of focusing on the challenge that led the customer to contact the vendor in the first place, and how to meet the customer’s needs and actually support them to achieve their goal.
Consider ‘Product Training’ versus ‘Customer Training.’ Product Training is about features and functions, while Customer Training is about ensuring the customer is equipped to do their job successfully. Better yet, consider labeling the function ‘Customer Education.’ Wouldn’t you rather be educated than trained? Creating educated customers sounds way better than simply teaching them how to use our product. How about ‘Expert Services’ versus ‘Customer Services,’ or ‘Product Advisory Board’ versus ‘Customer Advisory Board.’ These may seem like subtle differences, but they can lead to very different behaviors and measures of success.
If we consciously think about adding the word ‘customer’ to practically every title, it will ultimately shift our thinking and our behavior. Continuously ask what the customer will think when they hear a team member’s title. Will it sound like a bureaucratic company person, or will it sound like a customer advocate? Advocates create lasting relationships that may just lower our churn numbers and increase our upsell potential. If we expand our view of the arc of our relationship with our customers, it causes us to become less transactional and more aligned with their success. When our team members put themselves in the customers’ shoes in every interaction, we learn to act with empathy not with just process. Empathy begets loyalty, and there is no question that with loyal customers our business will thrive. Changing our language is a small step toward changing our culture that can have a lasting impact on our success.