You Chicago People Say It's Close

As I came off the elevator at 111 S. Wacker with my Jimmy John's #6 and Thinny Chips (isn't that a comical name?), a woman asked me how close Jimmy John's was to the office. I quickly explained it was close and that it was east on Monroe just a couple blocks. Her response was, "You Chicago people say it's close, but it will probably take me 10 minutes." Obviously, Chicago either isn't her home office or she is new to the Chicago area altogether. Either way, it made me think how familiarity can breed quicker, but sometimes sloppier, communication.

You know what happens. We work together long enough that we have a shared lexicon of acronyms and analogies. It works great for us speeding up our communication, because we don't have to stop and explain all that. But what happens when we are talking with and listening to our customers?

Do you know your customer's language? Do you speak your customer's language (for me these days, that means Tax) as best you can even if it isn't your native language (for me, a process guy used to operating in a techie world)? Be careful before taking shortcuts in your communication with customers. Pay attention when new stakeholders join. Remind yourself to step back, explain things and create opportunities for questions. And maybe become "multi-lingual" along the way.