You never even called me by my name

First, sorry for the ear worm in the title. My country roots shine through sometimes…

This week's feature is about using the word "customer" in your messaging. Many companies do it. They're writing about their company's latest and greatest, they're thinking about their customers and how to help them. It comes from a good place. But it is entirely internally-focused in a way that robs customers of some of the joy of reading your great news story.

My marketing rule of thumb is: do not use the word "customer" in your external communications. It makes them feel like they are just a means to an end.

Think about it this way. When you write content, you're writing it for your external audience, AKA customers, already. They know that; hopefully you know that. Imagine how awkward it would be to write a note to your wife and refer to her as "my wife" all throughout the text. For one, she would wonder if you really meant it for her. Even if you could avoid that particular pitfall, it would still cause confusion. Actually, do this next exercise as an experiment if you want a little mental amusement. Think of your last company announcement, where you likely referenced the benefits customers would receive. Imagine if every time you wanted to do something and needed to sell your spouse on the idea, you laid it out in terms of "the benefits my wife will receive." Total cringe! Don't do this to your customers either.

The reason why this makes us squirm in a similar fashion is that no one likes being reminded that they are expected to conform to a prescribed set of behaviors that put them at arms length from someone who is professing that they want to build a close, symbiotic relationship with them. It's difficult, in almost the same breath, to say, "I want to know the ins and outs of your operations so I alone can provide solutions to all your needs," and at the same time, use terminology that basically says, "However, I will remind you frequently through my words that we sit at opposite ends of this arrangement and that you will owe me money at the end of it." Oh boy, let's jump right in to this purchase agreement!

This comes out in more ways than just the word and this attitude can even transfer into seemingly inauthentic behavioral patterns. A few humorous examples I've personally experienced:

1. One organization I worked for renamed their largest hosted event with the word "Customer" smack in the middle of the event name. Think of it as reading "Company X Customer Event." Before you think that maybe event attendance had been low historically or confusing for people with the prior event name, this was not the issue, with attendance that ran in the 30,000-40,000 range. It was part of a larger company rebrand that promised to put the customer first, but this component was a tad extreme in its lack of ingenuity.

A step past the "if you build it, they will come" mentality, it was like the word was part of the manifestation process, as if putting it in the title would make them appear. I'm still unsure whether they were trying to convince the potential customer attendees or executive management more. A bigger fear was that they might come across as suggesting people not to show up unless they fully intended to buy.

What's wrong with it is that in the efforts to state something that should have been obvious through action, this blatant example lacks authenticity. If an organization wanted to send a subliminal message of genuine care, they wouldn't smack their customer in the face with a proverbial 2x4.

2. Another example was for a flashy product launch that involved media and select customers showing up to a red carpet event for the great unveiling with glamorous hired talent announcers and faux security guards. Guys, I've basically always worked in power distribution; our product enhancements just aren't that sexy usually, so in a way, it was meant to be fun. But on the agendas that everyone was given, they actually printed each step of what to expect, which truly included statements like: "Customers will walk in. Lights will begin to swirl, then the room will go dark while the sound of a beating heart will be heard growing louder and faster to build anticipation."

Imagine, if you will, being handed an agenda that detailed the mood-setting and psychological response you were expected to have. It's one thing to set the big-screen level atmosphere, but then don't rob your most prized attendees of taking that journey with you!

3. My last example is more basic than entertaining; it involves a supplier to one of my former companies that was expanding its factory to build more equipment, true efforts to better serve a need of their community. A nuance was that this organization was privately held; they had no shareholders or general public to pander to. The entire announcement read like what they would say at a board of directors meeting. Tell me, if you were a customer purchasing equipment, would you tangibly grasp the benefits you might receive from their solution if they approached you with promotional texts about strategic investment in manufacturing, expansion as a growth strategy, or positioning to meet demand? No! Those all sound great, and they are great, but you would be left thinking, "That still doesn't give me a reason I need to buy their product. What's in it for me and my company?" The messaging in this one was just misdirected, written by someone who was more familiar with talking about customers than to them.

Additionally, we were the only company they supplied this particular line of products to. The simplicity of a scenario where we could have jointly spoken about the benefits of our partnership would have resulted in a much more impactful announcement. Now having felt this from the customer's perspective, I can honestly say it feels weird.

These counterfeit mannerisms cause distance to grow between your organization and your target audience. If you are ever on the receiving end in these type of situations, you walk away feeling cheap and used. And the sad thing is that these examples started with great goals of building more connection!

Which brings me to one exception to this rule, which is when you are a publicly traded company writing an announcement that will be picked up by mainstream media or shared with your board and shareholders. They aren't your customers, they care as much for those customers as you do, so they want to hear what you're doing to benefit customers. This is a different audience and should be treated as such. Be careful with press releases or announcements that will be sent to trade publications as well as mainstream media; maybe consider tweaking the language or positioning just a bit.

At the end of the day, I know you care about your customer base and my goal today is for them to know and feel it too. Not wanting to leave you with just the criticism, what can you do instead? First, with each communication, remember who you are ultimately talking to and pretend it's them listening and watching along. Struggling to come up with other terms? Here are a few ideas to get you started, but your organization might have better, more specific ones: Operator, Installed Base, Stakeholder, End-User, Industry, Field specialist, etc. You get the idea. Use words and terms and behaviors that remind them of the intrinsic value of the relationship you have, not just the financial one.

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Melissa Reali-Elliott has spent over 15 years marketing digital technologies. Her marketing efforts have supported organizations specializing in gaming software, IoT, RFID, supply chain, and power distribution to utility markets, including smart grid and microgrid applications, as well as industry verticals such as data centers, oil & gas, metal refineries, and food & bev. She is accomplished at developing and implementing innovative marketing, branding, and messaging programs that improve market position and drive demand generation, as well as inspire customer and industry engagement with a brand.

If you are just landing on this series, the background for its creation in the first post here. The gist is that the data center industry where Melissa specializes does not have many formally-trained marketers dedicated to it and those that actually are are newer to industry. She wants to use her years of experience to help bridge the gap between industry influencers and technical marketers.

A general closing note from Melissa: In my efforts to share experiences and data that help others in the data center space to improve their marketing efforts, I often use both positive and negative examples, some of which will be from companies I have personally worked for or done business with. No anecdote will reveal proprietary information that can be tied to a company. Neither will I cite an organization I have worked for by name. While none are perfect, these companies have been fundamental to my success and have provided my life’s work. I respect them too much to attribute public criticism to their brands, though it is inevitable that those who have worked alongside me will pick up on certain references.