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Speak simply
By Lauren | March 5, 2010
Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s address a problem that plagues the customers and clients of many highly skilled professionals: the inability to understand what’s their professional advisors are saying to them.
One of the hallmarks of a profession is education in a specialized field and, with it, immersion in the language of the craft. Lawyers and doctors speak Latin, engineers, architects and scientists use complex technical terms, accountants and actuaries speak of mathematics, probabilities and statistics. Whatever your professional lingo, it may be “Greek” to the people you serve.
Professionals work hard to attain their status, and are justly proud of their ability to toss specialized terms around. But unless they translate those terms into common language their skilled advice may not be understood by the people who receive it. That creates the potential for all kinds of misunderstanding. Patients can consent to a particular operation without understanding the risks. Clients can authorize their lawyers to pursue strategies they never would have approved if they knew what they were getting. Investors can get burned because they didn’t understand the risks associated with a recommended purchase. Presented with a bad result, clients, patients and customers can turn a professional’s failure to explain risks in plain language into an expensive lawsuit.
It can be difficult to explain sophisticated concepts in simple terms, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Summarize your observations and recommendations as simply as possible, and don’t hesitate to use diagrams, pictures and analogies; I know one cardiologist who’s very good at explaining heart problems in terms of water pumps. Develop informational materials for problems your clients frequently face, and have someone who isn’t in your profession read them for clarity. (If you have teen-aged children, recruit them for this task.) Encourage your client to ask questions, and continue to talk until you’re reasonably sure he understands you. Then, document your conversation in a note to the file so you can demonstrate later what you said to your client and when. Careful disclosure strengthens business relationships and minimizes understandings. It can also keep you out of court.
Topics: Business Ethics, Legal Ethics, Professional Ethics, Risk Management, business communications, customer relations, ethics |