Having worked in digital marketing for 7 years, customer service for 5, and being a consumer for over 30, the one thing that dumbfounds me is why we don’t ask people what they want or how they want it.
I’ve been open about my issues with the concept of experts. We place them on pedestals as paragons of knowledge and wisdom.
“They know everything so I don’t need to tell them what I need and the way to give it to me.”
But sadly experts aren’t mind readers. And experts aren’t soothsayers either. Expertise is a multi-dimensional space with some kind of start point and no true end and you can’t possibly know everything about everything in your respective field.
GTBR (Get The Basics Right)
Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble but I regularly double and triple check myself, even for the fundamentals. Things change so fast and I’d rather be safe than sorry if I tell a client or colleague wrong or outdated information. Nothing ruins the illusion of omniscience more than being wrong. And sometimes people are okay about it because they know we’re all human. But when money and important decisions are concerned, it doesn’t look great. And one way to make sure you get things right is to ask people what they need and how they need it.
If we lead into engagements with assumptions and black box thinking, we’re adding far too much variance and noise into our final decisions and lord knows there’s enough of that in the information age. Mis/disinformation is rife and it’s time we started being upfront and honest. How do you want this information? What is it that you’re looking for from us? What are your target demographics? Do you monitor site speed or downtime and if so, how? What format do you need your tickets in? What’s your priority stack? WHY WON’T YOU DO WHAT I AS— okay, maybe not that last one but admit it: you wanna ask that so badly.
And from a consumer side, wouldn’t it be nice if someone asked what you wanted and it was actually taken onboard? It’s good to feel heard and acknowledged. People are realizing that all this data collection isn’t fuel for better business decisions that benefit the customer. But if you are in the market to benefit others, you have to ask questions.
Questions at the ready
There is no Mount Olympus, King Solomon, or systematically just courts. We have each other and our biases and assumptions. AI literally feeds off them and spews them back at us at breakneck speeds. If we want to break those behaviours and move forward with clarity, we must find out the truth and demystify the idea of All Knowing Agents of Commerce. The goalposts aren’t just moving; they’re changing size, shape, and may not even be there. So let’s talk.
Buy me a coffee or a pledge!
