I recently was emailing back and forth between our team and a client to solve an issue. (In my business, "customers" are "clients.") It wasn't a complicated issue, but I had to reinterpret every bit of team-speak into client-speak. It's was cumbersome and annoying. And I do this constantly.
While it always is important to relay information intelligently and succinctly, it is also important to know with whom you are speaking.
I'm a plain-speech girl. Tell it to me simple, and I'll interpret it as meaningfully as I can.
But to speak above my client, the one who is paying me, comes off at worst haughty and at best completely unintelligible for them. It's ignorant. And in the ignorance system, the concern moves away from solving real problems to defending one's intelligence. And that's unproductive and ridiculous.
To flip the table: if my client is very good at something I am not, I want them to teach me through it, not to assume I understand.
Solve real problems and do the hard work (take the time) of connecting with the people who help you (clients, counselors, team members, etc.) They may not know or appreciate the time you spend doing it, but the reward of a giving relationship is always worth it.
