"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

A national storage company in the United States uses the slogan, "We'll treat your stuff like its our stuff." Before I entrust them with my "stuff", I want to see just how they actually treat their "stuff". For several years in my work I accompanied Social Workers on visits to homes in the community where families and individuals  were having various challenges. I've seen how many people treat their "stuff"! I must say, that a lot of people don't take very good care of or treat their "stuff" very well. A national restaurant chain uses the slogan, "We treat you like family." What if I came from a dysfunctional or abusive family? Would that slogan be very inviting to me? The words we use have meaning based on our life's experience. If we don't have a shared life experience then the same words could have very different meanings. "I'll be there in a minute." To some people that means I'll be there in 60 seconds or less. To other people, that means I'll be there in ten or fifteen minutes. I've come to learn that a key to effective communication is this, "The meaning of the communication is the response you get!" This may be different from the one you intended. There are no failures in communication, only responses or feedback. If you're not getting the response you intended, do something different. It's not their responsibility to figure out what you mean. It's your responsibility to ensure they understand what you intended. How about this slogan, "We stand behind everything we sell." That's a little frightening.