Why buzzwords, jargon and acronyms are business buzzkill

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The web design industry is awash with buzzwords. For most businesses, buzzwords are a big turn off. Ask yourself this: why should any business care about CSS, mashups, XHTML, PHP, Ajax, flash mobbing, or the lamentable Web 2.0?

I think you know the answer to that one. For most businesses, the web and all its many attendant acronyms, jargon and buzzwords are complicated enough as it is — no business ever really wanted a website:

“No one who paid to have a website developed actually wanted a website; they want the web to help them promote their business. I’m going to help you promote your business on the web, make money over the web, and measure what you’re doing on the web.”

WYNIWYG (What You Need Is What You Get)

My job essentially involves me either fixing something someone else broke, or me making a better box of tricks. If something is broken, I’ll try and fix it the best way I can without it costing my client a small fortune. If that fails, I’ll make a better version. It’s that simple.

The only time I will mention any kind of industry jargon is when I absolutely have to and there’s no alternative. The vast majority of my clients really don’t care how I do what I do, so long as I do it cost effectively, efficiently and as quickly as possible.

All good business is about good communication; talking complex concepts through in simple analogies and terms. The moment technicalities creep into the conversation, the door is opened to fear, uncertainty and doubt.

“Is that going to be expensive?”

“That sounds really complicated!”

“But I thought you’d be handling that for me?”

These are the kind of questions and exclamations that need to be addressed head on.

Needs versus Features

If someone tries to convince you to have a really slick animation or video on the front page of your website, ask them how that benefits you and will all your visitors be able to see it, and if not, what will they see instead.

If someone tries to convince you to have your entire website redesigned, built using a load of technologies you’ve never heard of before, ask them how that benefits your visitors, yourself and your sales & marketing activities.

If someone tells you they can get you onto Google’s first search page, ask them how, when, with which web pages, for what keywords, are their methods ethical, for how much, and for how long.

Each of these scenarios have more wrong answers than right. Each scenario could easily cost you considerable sums of money with very little obvious return for your investment. Each scenario can easily involve you being sold a feature dressed up to look like a need.

Don’t get me wrong, slick animations and redesigned websites all have their place, but being blinded by buzzwords, jargon and features in needs’ clothing does not a business strategy maketh.

Why winners are all losers!

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Average people do not do amazing things. Amazing people do amazing things.

Now, I’m guessing some of you are itching to give me an example of some totally average person doing something extraordinary, and quite aside from the fact that the person in question really wouldn’t thank you for describing them as being average, the fact remains that to do something amazing, no matter how average that person might be, for a moment — no matter how long or how fleeting — they did something amazing, which required of them to be amazing.

And so it follows that the people who constantly achieve masterfully in life and in business are the ones who do amazing things with almost clockwork regularity. But there’s a caveat; these people are also losers.

Losers? Yes. Losers.

I read a quote recently that stuck in my head and connected with me in a very profound way, which went along the lines of: winners lose more than losers. So here’s my expansion on that near truism: do not fear failure.

As humans, we are adept at learning from our mistakes. I’m not saying this is a quality unique to humans, but it’s a quality that we have shown an unerring capacity to capitalize on. In a very real sense, failure is the engine of success.

Either secreted deep within the dark recesses of their subconscious, or writ large on a sheet of paper in their offices, winners know that to fear failure is to fail once and fail forever.

Those who succeed most probably know and understand the true value of professionalism, and arguably as important, knowing what professionalism isn’t:

“A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.”

Of course, one could make an argument resting on the old adage: a death of a thousand cuts. And that would be a sound argument.

But that’s where this thought piece could easily turn into a thesis, and where we begin to fear the unknown.

2009 is the year I begin to fail graciously and then learn from those mistakes with a passion…

Hungry for success? Quality is a key ingredient

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Quality is one of those things we sometimes take for granted, or simply neglect. Don’t. Quality has to be at the very heart of your business.

Quality control — food for thought?

On visiting a client of mine a couple of years ago, he asked if we’d like lunch. Since it was due to be a long meeting, discussing the future of their website (which was to be re-built as a Content Management System, so they could manage the website themselves), we said yes and he gave instructions to a senior secretary to get sandwiches. He also gave her explicit instructions to not use the local sandwich shop nearby. As she left, he then began to explain why.

You see, he once bought a sandwich that had, secreted within the folds of meat and salad, a long black hair. For most, that’s the moment you throw the sandwich into a bin. For the local sandwich shop, that was also the moment they lost a huge amount of repeat trade.

When poor service leaves a bitter after taste

In my mind at least, this incident was merely the fall out from something much more serious, and that’s a lack of customer care. The guys at the sandwich shop must have been aware that a local company was spending a lot of money with them, so why not sweeten the deal? When I say “local company”, I mean a head office for a multi-national business, employing hundreds of people.

My client was vocal in his protestations, and the moment the hair-in-sandwich story got around, well guess what? Most of the office staff followed suit and never bought another morsel of food from those guys again.

Customer care — eating humble pie?

If the guys at the sandwich shop had been more attentive, instead of my client simply stopping buying from them, he may have felt compelled to have called them to explain what he’d found in his sandwich. At which point, said sandwich shop should have ensured the next time they wanted food, it would either be steeply discounted, or even free.

And you know what would have helped precipitate this more positive outcome? Just saying “Hi!” to my client when he walked into their sandwich shop.

By all accounts, that never happened. Not once. Not what I’d call a recipe for success…

Professionalism in business and ‘blogging

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Professionalism is more than just being good at something. Life being broadly analogous to a contest, professionalism is about how you present yourself before, during and after the game. So what does being a Pro mean?

If you’re new to business, look at the following as a rough guide to doing business with people. A people primer, if you like.

As a businessman, I have to play the politics game as well as my own game. Why? Because the other businesses I do business with have their own take on things and how those things need to be done.

So diplomacy plays a big part, in the sense that business people must pay some respect to each other and our own, sometimes idiosyncratic, way of doing things.

Sometimes, there will be a clash of personalities and it’s during those moments that you have be a diplomat first and foremost. But at the same time, you need to distinguish yourself by maintaining some degree of composure.

If it’s a conflict and it transpires that you’re wrong, then bow out gracefully and ensure you can articulate the reasons why you thought your were right.

Be sure sure you’re not closing any doors, or burning any bridges.

Don’t be an advertorialinsultomercialist by insulting your competitors to give yourself an edge.

Sports stars are a great example of how we often get the whole professionalism thing used interchangeably with talent. Or use the word professionalism so often that it’s almost throw-away, disposable.

A huge salary is not a sign of professionalism. Nor is a insulting the competition, getting blind drunk in public, beating up your girlfriend, illicit affairs, gambling addictions, abusive behaviour or questionable TV appearances.

Professionalism is about being dignified and composed in the face of adversity. Being aware of your influence and using that influence in a responsible and measured way.

In ‘blogging, upholding these qualities can be a challenge, which I know only too well myself. As an example, dealing with bad comments can sometimes mean making uncomfortable, difficult choices.

Showing restraint when writing is another challenge. As a rule, if you’re in the mood to write a rant, do so, but leave it until the next day at least, or when you’ve calmed down. Then, re-read and edit accordingly. You’ll be surprised by how differently things look!

Of course, business people and sports stars are driven, motivated individuals. They often share common, key character attributes, such as aggression, towering egos, extreme natural talent, an intuitive awareness, huge self belief and a hunger for success.

However, what separates the professionals from the also-rans is how those qualities are harnessed, focused, channeled and then applied to their life. And I say life because professionalism is a life-long thing, not something you can switch on & off with all the convenience of a light bulb.

So I thought I’d put the question to the people of my Social Network and ask them for their definition of what they think professionalism is:

  • Ash Laws via Pownce — “Conducting any dealings or interactions with other people ethically.”
  • Richard Alan Cowling via Twitter — “It’s simply an attitude. Nothing more … but the attitude … results in behaviour which is.”
  • Alex Hardy on Twitter — “Working to certain standards of quality and how you conduct yourself with other professionals / customers.”

Also, here’s some things that don’t automatically make you a Pro:

  • wearing a smart or an expensive suite;
  • just saying that you’re a Pro, or an expert, guru et cetera;
  • going to the same venues / events / gigs as the Pros;
  • having Pros as “friends” on some social network;

No, professionalism is everything you do done well and noticed by enough of the right people often enough that they consider you to be a professional.

Even if you act like a Pro, to be considered a Pro is for others to say, not you…

The difference of success

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I’m not a gambler. I run a business and not knowing what’s in store week in week out is enough of a gamble for me. I prefer the “sure thing”, so putting my money on a ticket, a football team and a long drive to London was a gamble too far.

Playing the game

I’m from Barnsley, which is a small mining town in south Yorkshire, the largest county in England, often referred to as “Gods own County”. But I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Sunday the 6th of April was the day Barnsley got to play in the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in a very long time.

I and a few friends decided to make the trip to the new Wembley, to see Barnsley Football Club play Cardiff City Football Club.

Now, I should ask that you bear with me through this preamble, as the background is essential to the point I’ll be making towards the end.

Barnsley have had an astonishing run; they managed to beat off Liverpool and Chelsea in earlier rounds, both of which are Premiership sides, while Barnsley languish precariously at the bottom the the Championship, which is the league below them.

Liverpool and Chelsea are formidable footballing clubs, neither being what you’d consider to be push overs. All the same, Barnsley beat both of them.

It’s not like Barnsley just got really lucky. Every football pundit in the country would tell you that Barnsley won because they played the better football against formerly Liverpool and then more recently Chelsea.

So how come Barnsley lost to Cardiff yesterday? Because they played not like a side enjoying a rich vein of form, but a side languishing at the foot of the Championship, courting the relegation zone and demotion to Division One.

For the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, Barnsley were most definitely the underdog and an unknown quantity. As for Cardiff, they’re also in the Championship and they knew more about Barnsley. In the end, that may have been all the difference.

There’s something reassuring about failure — it’s often far easier to get something wrong than it is to get it right. And to keep getting something consistently right is something of an art form.

Business is no different than football, or any other sport, for that matter. Performance, accuracy, efficiency, professionalism and sustainable success are paramount, not peripheral or preferable.

Failure is an inevitability of trying to succeed

So as I sat there, watching my home town football team go a goal down in the 7th minute, I began to realize how transient loyalties are. Curses and insults rained down from the stadia, washing down into the lower reaches of the field, sure to be heard by both the media and the players.

In my estimation, you don’t really know a person until you’ve seen them in a crisis and when they’re drunk. Anything else is just so much talk. During that game of football and on my way home, I saw people new & old in both those situations. What I saw didn’t impress me.

When failure comes to those who achieve greater things than others, those who’re less accomplished and look up to those who achieve great things will seek out the differences between themselves and the achievers, using those things as reasons to admonish and vilify them, not realizing that those very things they identify as flaws are often the very things that make the achievers great.

I aspire to be great enough that should I fail, that I be able to do do with dignity…