talk in my language....

[greenoak]

im in conversation and communication with a guy in laredo.. spanish speaking, so its kind of hard anyway...so we are talking about semi loads and he keeps talking about half a pup.... i cant figure out what in the heck that is ...so to get his attention i have to say...to me a pup is a dog...
walla , he realizes hes using shop talk on someone who doesnt know what in the heck it means.....
im buying 400 pcs of garden iron and that takes up about half a pup...or maybe a whole pup....its some percent of a semi load.....
you just cant beat being waited on by a first generation immigrant!!!!in my experience anyway, its usually wonderful...they pay attention, they arent bored, you are probably talking to someone close to the owner or the owner,they want you happy....what a nice change from some of the bored phone people representing lots of the companies i deal with...... i just hope hes legal...since i really dont want to support illegal immigrants...

[huggytree]

plumbers have their own language also....i always try to use 'homeowner' language when discussing a project....otherwise they just look at you, smile and say hmmm, oohhhhh

[greenoak]

i bet you do!!!
same in antiques...if we say its a bad marriage...we are probably saying the cupboard top doesnt match the cupboard bottom...

[jpohl]

I spent thousands of dollars and a few years just because of the language thing. I am computer geek by trade, programming, systems analysis. I decided that I was working with business people that didn't understand the technology very well and probably were not going to so I went back to school to get and MBA just so I could better talk with the sales and marketing people and even the bean counters (although I still don't like talking to them :) )

Excellent observation

[mettro2]

Its an art to translate business language to costumer language and vice-versa. I am a locksmith and when costumers call me and I ask them to tell me what types of locks or issues they have over the phone, it gets very confusing sometimes. With my years of experience of talking to costumers, I can easily translate in my head what they mean, even if they are using the wrong words. I'm sure they appreciate that.

I always hate in times when I'm the costumer, when I try to describe my issue over the phone and the guy on the other end is doing absolutely no effort to go half way with me.