The Productologist

On a recent trip to a trade show, I witnessed an interaction (several, actually) that underscored the importance of clear communication. For Product Managers, this actually has applications on a few levels. Here’s what happened–

My return flight connected through Washington D.C. and unfortunately, the 767 that was originally scheduled had mechanical problems (or at least that’s what we were told) and a 757 was now what we would be flying. What this meant was that there were instantly 40 less seats available for customers. It also meant that seat assignments changed, but more about that later.

This flight obviously had a lot of connecting passengers, because the gate agents repeatedly announced that international passengers and those making connections should approach the ticket counter. Additionally anyone with seat assignments of H or J needed to go to the ticket counter for seat re-assignment, since the new plane didn’t have those seats (767’s have a 2-3-2 seating configuration (at least on United), but 757’s are configured 3-3). For about an hour before boarding was scheduled to begin, there was a steady stream of harried customers approaching the gate agents.

Each time one of these harried travelers asked about the status of their seat (re-assignment or upgrade), the gate agents kept responding with the following statement (or some variation thereof): “We’ve had a plane change.” What they meant was that there was an equipment change, but what most travelers heard was that there was a plane change (read: You are traveling and you have to take more than one flight), which sounded obvious to them.

They then asked their question again, wondering what changing planes had to do with their seat assignment or upgrade. This seemed to aggravate the gate staff and you could tell by their tone that they were annoyed by having to answer the same question twice for each traveler.

As an external observer, I could see that there was a disconnect between what the gate agents were saying and what the travelers were hearing, but it wasn’t obvious to the gate agents. The problem was that the gate agents were using an industry-specific term to communicate with their customers, who were not familiar with the term. Thus, the repeated disconnect and rising tension between the two parties.

If you have read this far, you may be wondering how this is relevant for Product Managers (congrats if you already know). The key is that Product Management, especially in software and technology, is laden with the secret language of jargon, buzzwords, acronyms and other terms that are confusing to customers, prospects, sales, management and others who you need to clearly understand what you write and say.

Whether it’s verbal communication on a customer call, visiting a prospect, working the booth at a trade show or written communications such as market requirements documents, slide presentation or email about a new product or feature, simplicity is the way to go.

When composing written communications, it’s OK to write your draft using your own secret language, but before you distribute it, make sure to review it, paying close attention to ways that you can remove the secret language elements and simplify the message. When you do that, that’s when you will connect with your audience and they will hear your message. And that’s what you really want as a Product Manager.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2007 at 10:02 pm PT and is filed under Communication, Customers, Documentation.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.