Saturday 18th May

The Pulse

I said, ‘Do you speak-a my language?’

Written by
Ferenc Mantfeld

Businesses, Featured, Your Clients

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16
Aug

Almost every Australian can respond with the next line in the song that goes:

‘He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich’.

Do you speak the language of business? If so, which dialect? More importantly, are you understood clearly by your audience?

I was in Paris with two broken sentences of terrible French. I saw a food vendor and developed a craving for a ham-and-cheese croissant.

I soon learned that no matter how loud I said ‘ham’, the other person in the dialogue didn’t comprehend: I wasn’t getting through. (This is also an important lesson for raising teenagers!)

I then began a game of charades where I grunted and squealed like pig and slapped my backside until the lights came on:

‘Ah monsieur; Jampon!’

I next pointed to the moon. No response. Perhaps the French don’t think of it as green cheese.

So, mooing like a cow, I got the vendor to point to a bottle of milk. Then I pointed to a knife and made a slicing motion. Ding!

‘Ah monsieur; fromage!’

This scene shows what can happen when two subject-matter experts from opposing sides try to create a coherent dialogue.

In business this can be catastrophic. In this case, the vendor was expert in French while I was proficient in English.

Turning up the volume didn’t resolve the situation, so I changed the communication manner with funny but effective results. (I got my croissant.)

How do we communicate in business? Are we focused on tax, compliance, profits, inventory, HR, customer retention, market penetration, cost reduction or risk mitigation?

What language do we use?

We use words (and wild gesticulations at times) to communicate information (an idea or concept). Communication is two way (at least, it ought to be) and it should include a confirmation that what’s understood is what we wanted to get across.

A picture paints 1000 words. Had there been a picture of a ham-and-cheese croissant, I could’ve pointed to it and held up a finger to indicate I wanted one. The whole transaction would’ve been far less of a spectacle. Common language/understanding at work.

In business, endless pages of reports that look like Excel can confuse the business owner and these can sometimes look just like ants walking up a page. How do you explain EBIT and corporate valuations to a business owner who’s never learned to read a financial statement?

If we learn to change complex data into simple charts that show the business owner where profits are coming from and where expenses are going, you can save a lot of gesticulation, raised volume, misunderstanding, frustration AND COST!

By analysing a customer’s spending in an instant, the owner can gauge whether this customer is in category:

A: (love them, bend over backwards and provide exceptional service, hold on to at all costs).
B: (pretty good, could become an A with nurturing).
D: (always complaining or asking for discounts, late to pay, give to your competitor).

By having this information available in some sort of known scorecard or picture, NOW this information becomes truly valuable.

How can you provide more value to your customers with simplified communication?

Ferenc Mantfeld | Founder and Owner – SeeMoreData

admin, business advice, business tools, checklist, clients, customer service, image, language, loyalty, marketing, starting out, tips

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What others are saying

Author

Paul Hassing

August 16, 2011 at 10:00 am

Nice one, Ferenc! Thanks for guesting. I greatly appreciate your franc assessment.

I particularly like the diabolical idea of sicking Level D clients onto your competitors. It reminds me of catapaulting farm animals over castle battlements. Not very ‘great wheel of karma’ but heaps of fun!

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 16, 2011 at 2:50 pm
  
  Greatest feeling ever when you can say to that one particular customer that has bugged you for discount and hassled you with payments and whinges all the time: “I am unable to help you, but you might want to try ABC, since they also operate in this space”.
  
  Reply
Author

Emma Mulquiney Online Editor - MYOB

August 16, 2011 at 10:30 am

While I am disappointed that there is no supporting YouTube clip of you imitating various barn animals, I agree with Paul – what a great insight!

I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked into a store (mostly electronic and car related, because let’s face it, I’m a girl!) and have had a salesperson talk jargon at me while holding up mostly unidentifiable objects. Apparently they’re speaking English. The situation is usually resolved with a hasty phone call to my Dad/Boyfriend/Brother, who promptly point me in the right direction of the item I’m after, thus removing the sales person’s opportunity to upsell, or even build rapport so I’ll return.

A wise post I should send around to the various auto superstores around Melbourne….

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 16, 2011 at 4:52 pm
  
  Emma, being a guy does not guarantee that we know any more about car parts than you do. I’ve had the same experience, but only after I opened my mouth and removed all doubt of any suspected ignorance about car stuff.
  
  Reply
- Author
  
  DBowler
  
  August 16, 2011 at 5:25 pm
  
  Too right Emma, when in the initial instance the call to your family member(s) could have been avoided if only the salesperson had related to your circumstance & went to the effort to ask you the right questions to find your specific need. Then from there to provide the right solution &/or possible additional options to the product you were requiring. Instead the reflection they have given comes across as a bit ignorant.. (‘just looking for that sale’) regardless of the customers need type scenario.
  Sometimes you just need to take a step back & go back to basics… in this case, Genuinely find out why/what/where peoples needs & experience are at then provide with the right solution.
  *Finding the right material to relate isn’t always easy, however once it is established a number of problems/errors are eliminated*.
  
  Reply
Author

Gordon Botwright

August 16, 2011 at 5:00 pm

Enjoyable as always Ferenc, but also so right. Data (often an Excel spreadsheet) isn’t information, and informatin doesn’t produce knowledge until it’s relevant and communicating in a language the business owner can understand, and that’s why Rubihawk’s dashboard is relevant. Besides we all like pictures!

Reply
Author

David Rodrigues

August 16, 2011 at 5:12 pm

Couldn’t agree with you more, Ferenc. As a finance manager, I have the same difficulty trying to get “accounting” and “finance” concepts across to my engineering team. I should send this around my work place – they’ll quickly realize that you had greater success getting your croissant out of the french food vendor that I have explaining variances to them.

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 17, 2011 at 5:24 pm
  
  Finance & Accounting to an engineering team? Boy you sure know how to pick your battles David! I can almost tangibly feel your frustration
  
  Reply
Author

David Drake

August 16, 2011 at 5:18 pm

I completely concur Ferenc…
I find the spoken word very interesting – for instance – if I use the phrase “I’m mad about my flat”
In the UK this would tend to indicate that I’m ecstatic about my new apartment, but in the US I would be seen as being “extremely annoyed” at my deflated tire situation
When it comes to the financial world even such seemingly simple terms as “profit” can mean different things, for instance before or after tax, interests, amortizations etc etc…
One that always comes to mind when small business talks “profit” …is “but did you pay yourself a decent wage before you calculated said profit”?
…not one to rant though

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 17, 2011 at 5:27 pm
  
  Ah Dave, you open the proverbial can of worms there, but questions well worth asking when you want to dig down deep!
  
  Fantastic comments, but complex answers.
  
  Thanks for your feedback
  
  Reply
Author

Mark Patane

August 16, 2011 at 6:05 pm

You are completely correct- a picture IS worth a thousand words! I was in a similar situation in Taiwan last month, but was in the fortunate postion where all food at all cafes/restaurants had either photos or full size plastic replica. This was even better as not only could I see the type of food but also the amount. All at glance! All I had to do was point and grunt… much like how I communicate with my accountant! Turning Exel spreadsheets and MYOB Data into meaningful information that is easily understood at glance is invaluable.
Being able to view the data from different angles, gives a 3D view much like the plastic food replica. Good work Ferenc!

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 17, 2011 at 5:31 pm
  
  Hey Mark. the idea of a plastic life-size model is fantastic. The plastic models will never have a hair or roach on them either.
  
  Makes me think of how many times you see a massive picture of a menu item, yet what is served on my plate seems like a miniature replica. Maybe I should be eating smaller portions anyway
  
  Reply
Author

Phil Owens

August 17, 2011 at 9:07 pm

Great topic. Everyone has a different ‘reality’ full of their own symbols. They can share these with others through language, which the shared ‘currency’ of understanding. The car salesman, Emma – no respect for your reality, so should NOT get your business!.

Dashboards and images are great when the information is appropriate and accurate. Information is not knowledge, and insight and wisdom are a step further back. Many people provide over-long reports to show how much they know, rather than communicate for understanding.

Some people are visual, others are ‘AD’ (and need data/information). Providing BOTH in the right amounts can ensure that you speak to the other’s reality and influence them to understand. The right supporting picture and information together – may be worth 2000 words!!

Reply
- Author
  
  fmantfeld
  
  August 18, 2011 at 6:10 am
  
  Wow Phil, thanks for that. Excellent feedback.!
  I wrote a blog some time back, on dashboards and how they ought to be designed. It’s still online at http://smdbi.blogspot.com/2009/03/myth-of-corporate-dashboard.html (got to love the net, web pages are forever!). We have adhered to these principles (clear layout, present information that is quickly & easily transformed into understanding) when designing the dashboards in Rubihawk. Also learned a lot from reading Ed Tufte’s book.
  
  One of our recent customers downloaded Rubihawk and then told me that as the Commerical director, our software has saved him 10 hours per week. That is an incredible testimony to the power of clarity and simplification. All because the information was appropriate, accurate and easy to see in an instant.
  
  Our approach recognizes that all organizations have data, the primary purpose of any reporting tool is to turn the data into information. That is step 1. We then couple that information with knowledge & experience and go through an analysis stage. Rubihawk is an analysis tool that runs in tandem with MYOB providing flexible & clear insight into financial and operational information. Once we apply the analysis, it leads to understanding / wisdom. This then fosters the confidence to make clearer / faster business decisions. Until we achieve this last part, it is all hocus pocus.
  
  The hardest part is getting people to let go of their comfort blankets, the way they have always done things, and embrace a new, more efficient way to do things. Sometimes it can be a paradigm shift and only when the need is so strong that the pain of the status quo is larger than the force of inertia / resistance to change, do we stand a hope of being able to help. This is whywe often work so well with business transformation specialists, like coaches, business advisors, accountants who provide business mentoring, etc.
  
  Reply
  - Author
    
    Paul Hassing
    
    August 18, 2011 at 8:36 am
    
    Phil’s rather good like that, Ferenc! My ‘dashboard’ is a single-page, multicloloured spreadsheet. It’s as sophisticated as a piece of butcher’s paper covered in crayon, but that’s the limit of my analytic skills. Though rudimentary, I can at least vouch for its value as a concept. It’s great to be able to scan vital business metrics at a glance.
Author

Phil Owens

August 18, 2011 at 10:10 am

Ferenc – a great dashboard will save AT LEAST that amount of time. Helping people see how their business is running when they have too much data to mentally process is such an important thing. It takes wisdom and intellect to decide what goes on the dashboard, though…. choose the wrong metrics and you are looking at the wrong part of the business! I often find businesses forget the ‘K’ in KPI – KEY. Without knowing where they want the business to be, and what they can measure to ensure it is in track, it ends up being GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage Out). But I am sure that the right dashboard can make a massive difference as the volume of data increases in a business.

Reply
Author

Gianetta

August 29, 2011 at 12:08 pm

Ferenc – Excellent…. It is always difficult to present reports in such a way that all members of the team understand, from the finance team to the management team.
Pictures (Diagrams and graphs) seem to be the common denominator, the only language they all understand. Anything that makes this process quicker would be an enormous investment, especially if it means everyone is able to speak the same language at the one meeting.

Reply