There’s been a bit of chaos in the online world the last few weeks. Well, chaos for digital entrepreneurs. You see, the lovely folks in the UK government have decided to change the laws around VAT for selling digital services & products, and the changes they’ve made, are going to have a pretty massive impact within our industry.
Don’t worry, I’m not about to write a blog post on VAT law. I am most definitely not an expert. But this issue has made me realise something super important about how businesses (and organisations) communicate.
Let me explain. The news about VAT MOSS (that’s what they are calling it) has been spreading like wildfire online. It’s trending on Twitter (#VATMOSS #VATMESS) and there are articles & forums popping up everywhere.
Honestly ? The changes are really bad news. But the biggest thing I’ve noticed about this whole situation? How badly it has been communicated. In the last few weeks, I’ve read countless blog posts, tweets and FB posts from massively confused entrepreneurs. Everyone has been desperately trying to interpret the jargon online and get some understanding of it.
Last week I asked my VA to do some research. She reached out to two accountants for me. I figured if we spoke to real people, they make more sense. Apparently not. They both responded with equally confusing answers. Same goes with the ‘fact sheet’ that I was given from a local organisation.
I sat down last night, trying to make sense of it all, and realised how badly I needed someone to translate all this tax & accountancy terminology into plain English. It got me thinking about how easy it is for people to forget that not everyone has had the training & experience they have. The 2 guys that gave us responses weren’t being lazy or confusing on purpose, they just forgot that, what perhaps seemed simple to them, may as well have been written in Japanese for me.
I found myself thinking how insanely awesome it would be to find an accountant who spoke real English. Who explained stuff in terms that I understood. Same goes for so many industries, where businesses live in such bubbles, that they forget the importance of communicating to their clients in a language that will be understood.
Sure, when they send me all their jargon, they look super smart and I believe that they really know their stuff, but does it make me want to work with them ?! Hell no!
We build trust and resonance with brands that speak our language.
We breathe a sigh of relief when someone can explain something to us in a way that doesn’t make us feel like we’re an absolute idiot. Think back to your school days… We’ve all had that one teacher who made learning feel fun. Whose lessons seemed more engaging & interesting than the rest. Was it because the stuff they were teaching, was easy? No, it was the way they chose to communicate.
Same rules apply to business. No one likes a smart ass. Talk to your clients/customers in a language they’ll understand. They’ve come to you for your expertise — it’s your job to share it with them in a way that will leave them feeling empowered.
I’ll give you an example. The accounting software I use is called FreshBooks. When I first started looking around for a service provider, I knew the basics of what I needed. And to be honest, almost all of the companies I looked at were offering the same service. Every software that I tried made me, feel even more useless when it came to accounting. They were all riddled with jargon that made no sense to me whatsoever. I trialled a few, and although they did the job, I hated using them.
Then along came FreshBooks. As soon as I saw their website I breathed a sigh of relief. Their tagline is ‘Accounting made for you, the non-accountant’. It was so straightforward to use. I found myself (I can’t believe I’m saying this) looking forward to doing my bookkeeping because the experience they had created, was refreshingly simple. Their customer service reps are amazing, and guess what? They speak plain English.
Bottom line? Using FreshBooks makes me feel smarter.
Rather than focusing purely on what they do, they’ve thought about how they do it. And that, my friends, are the difference. Good brands know the importance of good communication.
So this week, ask yourself this: Am I speaking in the same language as my dream clients? Can I use my expertise to help them in a way that makes them feel smarter & more empowered?