Consulting Language (aka Buzzwords)

Buzzwords seem to be the stuff that consultants live off of. If they can they'll throw the words into every sentence they utter whether they are talking to a client or just simple everyday talk. It's at the point where all someone needs to do to instantly identify themselves as a consultant is start talking in buzzword circles.

Gen Y has an opinion of consultants (for better or worse it's there) and it comes from the movies. Office Space gave us the Bob's. That's who consultants are to us and sadly most consultants seem more than happy to fill that stereotype. It doesn't help that words and phrases such as:

synergy, rightsize, six sigma, lean, lean six sigma, efficiency, optimal processes, inventory rationalization, sourcing, paradigm shifts, strategic leveling of resources, knowledge management, process integration, disruptive innovation, value added anything, leveragable mindshare, extensible, uCommerce, iCommerce, accountability management, goal alignment, and don't forget the entire list of new environmental buzzwords

Sure these words all have a meaning and some can even be understood by a layman, but do they add any value to a conversation? The quick answer is no. The fastest way to lose a client is to speak over their head. Anyone who is knowledgeable about their field doesn't need to hear buzzwords and anyone who isn't knowledgeable won't understand the buzzwords.

Buzzwords came about because they are perceived to be quick ways to explain a complicated concept. Let's look at rightsize - the meaning of the word is to resize a process or area to match the actual operation requirements. Is it that much harder to say the sentence versus the word? It proves you understand the concept and aren't just throwing out words and also differentiates you from other consultants. If all of your competitors are using the buzzwords and you aren't that can be a competitive advantage over them. At the end of the day that could be the difference between you getting hired and them.

Another reason to avoid buzzwords when possible is because they create confusion. Buzzwords are meant to be vague and cover a wide array of options. Overuse of them can lead to confusion and conflicting opinions of what has been promised or what the scope of work is. Consultants are often seen as over-promising and under-delivering. Part of that is a lack of clarity in the language. Let's look at some examples of what they say/what they mean:

Say: Rightsize inventory through a rationalization project to optimize levels.
Mean: Set on-hand requirement levels to reduce inventory.

Say: Find synergies between groups by leveraging resources, processes and goals.
Mean: Find and eliminate unnecessary job duplication.

Say: Use six sigma process to value engineer the customer-facing processes of the call center.
Mean: Setup a process to eliminate errors that customers experience with the call center.

The list can go on and on but the result is always the same - there are easier ways to state a thought that doesn't include the use of buzzwords. When you are faced with someone determined to use buzzwords, let them know that you want them to state things a different way. If they aren't able to restate the thought then they probably don't know what they are saying to begin with. If they are able to then you'll probably have a more productive conversation.

Evaluating A Product Release

Amazon.com just came out with a new device called the "AmazonKindle." The device is supposed to be the iPod of books but I really have to wonder about the thought process that went into the design and price structure of the Kindle. The $399 price tag can be justifiable if the baseline content and overall technology is at a very high level. Technically speaking, everything is there: long battery life, free wireless connection, high capacity storage (several hundred books if you use an SD card) and no back light. Unfortunately the content doesn't seem to match the cost.

There is very little free content for the device. From my first look it appears like you can get wikipedia.org for free and a built-in dictionary. You can't even read blogs on the Kindle for free. It doesn't come with any partner content for free. The Wall Street Journal costs $9.99 per month. Sure that's less than actually buying a hard copy of the paper everyday, but you would think they could have partnered with CNN.com or any other other free online news papers for free content.

Even the books aren't cheap. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court has a print cost of $27.97. Amazon sells it for $16.77 and advertises it for $9.99 on Kindle and say that it is a 60% savings! I'm not great at math, but it seems to me that it is less than 50%. Closer to about 40%. A public domain book costs $1.99. This is what is driving many of the reviews I've read today regarding this product. Amazon seems to be using two pricing structures at the same time which turns people off quickly.

This isn't a review of Kindle or whether it is a good/bad/indifferent product. This is about the importance of factoring in the on-going consumer costs versus the alternatives. You have to have a really special product to charge for something consumers can get free somewhere else in the same or better quality. If the initial cost was lower or the on-going costs were lower I believe there would be less initial negative reaction to the product on the review pages. Those review pages will affect whether many people buy the product or not. If you are launching an innovative product to the mass public and currently has no competition, you sure had better get some good reviews and not alienate many people right out of the gate.

Products like this typically come about from a completely internal development process with unconnected decision makers. They probably tested the product extensively with consumers but do you think they tested the price structure simultaneously? A product is only as good as its cost/value ratio to individual consumers. How do you test products before release? What differences are there between your successful releases and products that didn't do well? Do you anticipate negative reviews and have a strategy for dealing with them if they occur?

I doubt that Amazon predicted the reactions to the Kindle. They probably do not consider the iPod a direct competitor for this product. Consumers seem to be thinking that it is. They want more features and they want to put anything they want onto it, not just Amazon provided material. Why shouldn't the Kindle have a built-in web browser? Why should consumers be forced to pay for content that has never had a price before (public domain books and blogs). Dealing with unexpected reactions to a product is an important part of development. Make sure you anticipate all of the possibilities surrounding your release.


Technorati Tags: kindle, amazon, technology

Knowing Your Audience

An important part of any presentation is knowing who your audience will be. If your pitch is tailored toward finance and you walk into an engineering oriented group you will be in trouble from the start. A little advance scouting goes a long way. Scouting is even more important when the meeting is over the phone or internet and you have no way of knowing that you aren't connecting to your audience right away. This applies to both the consulting world and internal communications for any company.

There are presentations that you have to give on a regular basis that you keep updated and stay knowledgeable on. How many versions of those presentations do you have? The correct answer should depend on the types of audiences you will face. If you have to give a quarterly report to your superiors but brief your staff before hand, shouldn't these two presentations have different feels? Sure your staff cares what you are going to tell the people above you, but what they really want is the information pertinent to them.

We have a presentation for a service called Strategic Facilities and Operations Assessments. This presentation currently has about 6 versions that are kept up to date for use at any given time. We have a version for 3 different industries, a short and long version, and a detailed process version. With very short notice we can pull any of these out and have a very good starting point for a conference with a potential client. There is no need to go back through and create a new version. Flexibility was built in early to save time and keep the message consistent.

If you are like most businesses, you know who your target audience is. It is important to push to get that audience present for your presentation. Getting the right audience will make you more comfortable and make the message that much more effective. Making sure you are prepared for the times when you get a different audience is just as important.


Technorati Tags: consulting, presentation, audience