Marketers speak a different language than business people

In my last post I discussed how we have a basic language problem between marketers and the C-Suite.  Following this line of thought, it then becomes vitally important that this communication is in the “language” they understand – not the language we use. 

The best analogy that I can think of is that marketers speak French and business people speak English.

Think about French as a language.  French is sexy.  It has a mystique.  It flows and sounds like music – even when it is used to insult you!  From a French person’s perspective, there’s nothing special about the language, it’s simply how they communicate.  But alas, while French is such a wonderful language it doesn’t help you much when traveling the rest of the world.  Not that many people speak French – in fact, it’s not a language of commerce as it once was.  

Consider the following scenario.  Proud that you’ve completed the latest level of duolingo, you fly from France to London and order your croissant and coffee only to experience the wait staff looking at you like you’re speaking Spanish! You’re not “one of them.”  You speak “funny.”  You sound like you’re TRYING to speak their language but the nuances are lacking, you’re a muffled little warbler trying to speak to the eagles.  Ironically, the same would happen in reverse if a native-English speaking person flew from London to France – only probably more exaggerated due to the cultural differences between those two nations. 

You are not speaking the language of commerce – metaphorically English – literally Finance!  You must obtain at a minimum a “tourist level” vocabulary of this very important language.  Finance is what they speak in the C-Suite.  Finance is what they live in the C-Suite.  Finance is the only language investors and Wall Street REALLY understands.  Finance is what drives decision-making within companies and ultimately justifies both salaries and bonuses in the C-Suite!

Have I mentioned that you need to be able to speak Finance as part of your business acumen in order to address the C-Suite!