Project Management – The Language Barrier

Would you go to a foreign country without learning a bit of the language or understanding the culture? No probably not, or if you did, then you would be at risk from looking slightly ignorant or embarrassed every time you tried to order a drink! Project Management can work in the same way and it’s essential to understand the language that’s spoken by those that you’re working with both within your own organisation and perhaps more importantly, with the client.

This doesn’t of course mean that for a Project Manager to speak to a Customer Insight colleague they need to have detailed knowledge of how to build a propensity model, understand neural networks or determine the most appropriate regression model. But, it does help if they can have dialogue which the ‘analysts’ are comfortable with and translates well to the client. If language and terminology is used that the Project Manager doesn’t understand, they shouldn’t dismiss it as a foreign language, they should attempt to talk ‘pigeon analytics’ until a common ground is found. I’m sure you’ve all been on holiday trying to order that dish from the menu that you have no idea what it is, but with a bit of patience from you and the native waiter, you work it out together.

Once the language is established and understood, the Project Manager can then be clear when detailing the clients’ requirements. It is essential that these are understood and consensus is reached to be confident that project efficiency is maximised. When managing a Print and Fulfilment campaign, it’s essential that the correct inserts go with the correct personalised letter – it matters to that individual what is received. Or another analogy would be to go back to the international dish, if you don’t understand what that foreign ingredient is – then on your taste buds be it!

Should any problems arise through the course of a project, the Project Manager is responsible for working the challenge through with the person who will essentially resolve it whether that is the client or internal colleagues. This will have a positive impact as the solution will support the overall project objectives and also enhance understanding. When managing a Database Marketing project, decisions and choices can be vast and the wrong one made through miscommunication could have a big impact of the overall deliverables.

As our core business is Customer Relationship Management, the skills required to work efficiently and effectively with clients and colleagues alike are ingrained in all our Project Management staff. A Project Manager needs to have skills to perform a range of duties from sales, to accountancy, to business analysis and even diplomacy as well as a firm understanding of the importance of when in a service department, do as that service department does!

Welcome to the new blog of EWA Bespoke Communications

EWA is an award winning relationship management agency and we specialise in providing outsourced marketing services including:

• Database Marketing
• Customer Insight
• Contact Centres
• Response Handling
• Print & Fulfilment
• Relationship Management

We have been in business for over twenty five years and provide outsourced customer relationship management programmes for clients such as M&S, Nissan, adidas and Merial Animal Health.

As an outsourcing agency, return on investment is ingrained in everything we do at EWA and clients need to see a return on the trust and financial commitment they place with us. That is why every campaign we handle is strictly managed to agreed service levels and outcomes are analysed to gauge their effectiveness.

To give an example; approximately three years ago EWA highlighted to M&S the need for a customer retention programme in order to help reduce customer churn. The programme that was developed and put in place by our Systems and Customer Insight team has today seen customer churn levels reduce by 20% which represents an additional £750,000 worth of orders since the programme’s inception… impressive results we hope you’ll agree.

The reason for launching our new blog is simple… we have a lot to say! EWA has been a market leader in customer relationship management since 1981 and we want to share our knowledge, create debate and discuss areas of work which we are passionate about. As with all blogs, it will be a work in practice so please check back regularly and feel free to send us your feedback on any of the topics we write about.

The blog will become the voice of EWA and will be contributed to by experienced staff in senior positions across the company. We’ll be discussing topics as varied as customer service and the benefits of outsourced contact centres to getting the most from your data and how eMarketing impacts our lives.

We believe we have expertise in supporting outsourced marketing services for our clients and our blog is an opportunity to tell you about what we do; for you to question us; challenge us; learn about us and most importantly engage with us!

We’re looking forward to your thoughts and comments and welcome anyone to join the online conversation!