Why talking shop is a Bad Idea

We all do it. We talk shop. That is to say, we discuss, in tedious technical detail, the minutia of our business operations. It's second nature. Hell, it's FIRST nature. When we know a subject really well (and you damned well better know your business like the back of your hand), we tend to talk about it with the resolution of a scanning electron microscope. You know, in really really tiny detail.

This is not so bad when you're talking shop with your employees and business associates. It's also marginally acceptable when you do it with (to) your friends and (God help them) family. But when it is -- or should be -- absolutely verboten is when you're talking with clients and, more to the point, prospective clients.

Case in point: we were recently asked to take a look at a proposal done by a third party for a small local college. The proposal listed on the close order of seventeen (seventeen!!!) features this designer wanted to add to the client's website, not including the massive redesign of the entire site. Now, the designer is a young guy, recently out of school, and so we can forgive his youthful enthusiasm to a certain extent. But...not.... really.

Because he basically was talking shop. He knew that these seventeen things were possible. Popular, even. He included all the latest buzzwords. There was a blog, an on-line courseware section, a student social network forum, and on and on. These technologies get a LOT of press. They are "sexy" right now. Totally Buzz-worthy.

BUT THEY DON'T ADDRESS A REAL BUSINESS NEED!

No matter how hip and cool a technology is, no matter how many people are doing it, if it doesn't solve some very real problem for the client's business, selling them some piece of technology is the same as selling them snake oil. Because they don't need it. No matter how much it impresses the neighbors.

It's funny, this Web thing. It's nearly ubiquitous. Something like 70% of all businesses (this based on a conversation I just had earlier today with an SEO firm; I haven't independently researched this) have a web site. Most of these people, clearly, are not IN the web business. And, dare I say it, none of them Get It. They don't Get the Web. No clue what it really is, or how to use it, or -- more importantly -- WHY to use it. Ok, so some do, but in my experience, 98% of the folks out there say "I want a web site because everybody has one, and you have to have one to compete."

Horse Pucks. First off, most sites get very little traffic. Believe me, I pay the bandwidth bill, and I don't stay up at night, worrying about it. Largely, this is because the site doesn't really provide anything worth the trip (and clicks are cheap, remember). Secondly, for most people, the web site they buy has very little to do with the site they NEED. We, of course, attempt to address the latter, but you'd be surprised (or maybe not) by how many CLIENTS come in asking for a "blog" with "social networking." When I ask them why they need this, they invariably respond "this guy I heard of started a blog for his business and now he's making 10 times as much money." Like a blog is some sort of web-based ATM with no overdraft fees. And there are plenty of folks out there willing to take their money and give them something that really just won't do what they need. (Don't get me started on Flash sites).

The core reason, of course, is that the clients often don't know what they really need, themselves. And this is why the web is such a funny ol' thing. If you go and ask you average owner of your average Financial Investment firm what the cost/benefit ratio of their financial modeling software is, they wouldn't even blink before telling you what they pay, both gross and net (after tax deductions, amortization, etc), how much it costs them per-employee, and what their return on investment is, in terms of both employee productivity gains and gains in business opportunities uncovered. And they sure as hell don't understand how the software was written nor how it operates under the hood. Ask them to make a capital expenditure of $10k for a new copier, and they'll know immediately if that much is warranted for a new copier, of if they should instead buy a used or smaller copier. Or none at all. The list of things business owners can tell you about from a buy/no-buy point of view is enormous, but this list seldom includes a web site. Because, with few exceptions, they don't Get It. This is not their fault. They shouldn't HAVE to Get It. But layer after layer of bad, half-assed advice has been handed their way, and they're generally confused, defensive and fed up.

And I, for one, don't blame them. Especially since I so often have to talk them down off the ledge, and then somehow manage to get to grips with what is really the correct choice for their site. Establish their goals based on business objectives. Lay out a plan to use technology to meet those goals. And set up a method for evaluating the effectiveness of that plan. You know, good old fashioned, common-sense running your business correctly.