Communication
Say it like you would say it
Corporate jargon does not make you look sharper: it loses the client by the third line. Seven phrases to take out today.
Anyone opening your website has one question: «do these people do the thing I need?». Jargon delays the answer, and the reader leaves before finding it. Here are the seven phrases that turn up on nine sites out of ten, and the version people understand straight away.
Years ago, in a meeting, a chap spent twenty minutes explaining that his company «enables end-to-end transformation processes». At the end I asked him what he sold. He sold shelving. Beautiful steel shelving, as it happens. But to find that out I had to ask him!
If I have to ask what you sell, your site is not saying it.
Jargon is not born to hide things: it is born to reassure the person writing. It sounds professional, it looks the part, and above all it commits to nothing. Nobody can argue with «tailored solutions». They can argue with «we make three-metre steel shelving» — which is exactly why that one sells.
The seven phrases, and what to write instead
You will find them on nine sites out of ten. Go and look at yours, they are in there.
| Instead of | Write | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Innovative solutions | What you do, using the name of the thing | «Solution» is the word people reach for when they do not want to name the product |
| End-to-end, full-service | The real list of what you do | Nobody does everything. Claiming it costs you credibility rather than adding any |
| Tailored to you | How you work, in three lines | Everyone writes it, so it distinguishes nobody |
| Industry leader | A number somebody can check | «Leader» cannot be verified. «Eight hundred clients since 2009» can |
| Strategic partner | Supplier, consultant, or whatever you are | The client is looking for someone to do the work, not for a job title |
| We put the customer first | Who answers the phone, and how fast | A vague promise is worth less than a firm commitment |
| Contact us for a quote | What it costs, or where prices start | People who find no figure close the tab and look elsewhere (more on that in what a website costs) |
The ten-second test
Open your own home page on a phone. Count ten seconds, then shut your eyes. Can you say what that company sells, to whom, and roughly what it costs? If the answer is no and the company is yours, you have just worked out why the contact form stays empty.
Run the same test on three competitors. Nearly always you will find that none of them passes either: that gap is where you can put yourself.
Jargon is not only on the website
- In emails. «We remain at your disposal for any further clarification» means «write to me any time». Write that instead.
- In quotes. Line items like «strategic consultancy activity» make people suspicious. «Two days rewriting the site copy» does not.
- On the phone. If you hear «meaning?» more than once, it is not the client who is slow. The same goes for how you write the pages of your site.
A word about the word «professional»
The fear underneath the jargon is always the same: if I speak plainly I will look small. It works the other way round. People who know the trade explain it in two sentences; people still learning it need four adjectives. Complicated language does not protect your expertise, it hides it. Scary, eh?
And if a sentence feels too plain to go on the website, try it on the phone with a client. If it works there, it works better on the site.
- The visitor's question is «do you do the thing I need?». Everything else comes after.
- One checkable number beats ten adjectives.
- If you have to explain out loud what you sell, the site is not saying it. If you want it to, let's rebuild those pages together.
Frequently asked questions
Does plain language make a company look less serious?
No, the opposite happens. People who know their trade explain it in two sentences; complicated language is nearly always a way of avoiding commitment. Plain does not mean shallow: it means the reader gets it first time.
Do I have to put prices on the site?
Not exact ones, but a range yes: «from 500 euro», «projects from three thousand up». People who find no reference at all close the tab and look elsewhere, and you lose even the enquiries you would have wanted.
How do I know if my site speaks in jargon?
Give it to somebody outside your industry and ask them to tell you what you do. If they get it wrong or hesitate, the problem is not theirs. It is the fastest test there is, and it costs five minutes.