How to avoid getting lost in translation with customers

Ever sent what you thought was a crystal-clear message to a customer... only to have it completely misinterpreted?

Customers filter your words through their own experiences and assumptions. This often creates a dangerous gap between what you say and what they actually hear.

The result?

Painful misunderstandings.
Missed expectations.
Relationship friction that nobody needs.

These communication breakdowns aren't just annoying ; they cause real damage:

• You say "our product can do X and Y" but customers hear "we can do everything" → Then come those awkward "but you promised us..." conversations nobody wants to have.
• Your implementation instructions leave room for interpretation → Projects get delayed, deadlines slip, and suddenly you're on the defensive.
• You assume they understood the limitations → They feel blindsided and question your transparency.
• Your how-to guides make perfect sense to you → But confused customers flood your support team with tickets they shouldn't need to create.
• You explain benefits in technical terms → While stakeholders struggle to see value in language that matters to them.
• Your ROI explanation is too complex → Making it impossible for sponsors to champion you to their leadership.

But it doesn't have to be this way!

This guide gives you practical techniques to communicate so clearly that customers understand exactly what you mean the first time.

No more translation errors. No more frustration. Just crystal-clear communication that builds trust and gets results.

Ready to close that communication gap for good?

Let's do this together by covering three ways to turn messy translation into crytal-clear shared understaning.

Please note: AI-assisted tools were used to help brainstorm, research, organize, structure, and enhance the content of this article, ensuring clarity and usability.

1. Hit them with the headline first 📰

Want to know the #1 mistake most CSMs make in customer communications?

They bury the lead!

Here's why this matters: your customers are drowning in information. When you hide the important stuff in paragraph three, they'll likely miss it completely.

If we’re being honest, we bury critical information because we're scared:

• Scared of disappointing customers
• Scared of creating conflict
• Scared of looking incompetent

But this "cushioning" approach backfires spectacularly!

Look at this classic CSM message: "We've been looking at your usage patterns and thinking about ways we might want to adjust your implementation approach to better align with some of the best practices we've seen with other customers in your industry..."

What customers actually hear: "Are they saying we're doing something wrong? Is this a sales pitch? Are they trying to upsell me? What exactly do they want from me?"

The solution? Start with a direct topic sentence that hits them between the eyes.

"Your current usage pattern is creating performance issues that we need to address."

Boom! Clear. Direct. Impossible to misinterpret.

Your headline sentence should:

• Be 5-10 words (shorter is better!)
• Use active voice, not passive
• Name the actual issue, not hint at it
• Skip unnecessary qualifiers like "kind of" or "sort of"
• Come FIRST in your message, not buried in paragraph three

Real examples that work:

When systems go down: ❌ "We've been monitoring the system and noticed some irregularities in the past few hours that the team is investigating..." ✅ "Our platform is experiencing an outage that affects your instance."

When deadlines slip: ❌ "Regarding the timeline we discussed for the SSO integration, there have been some developments on our engineering side..." ✅ "We need to push back the SSO implementation by two weeks."

After your direct headline, absolutely provide context and next steps—but the main message has already landed clearly.

Try this approach in your next customer email. You'll be shocked at how quickly decisions get made! 💯

2. Ditch vague words that mean nothing 🎯

Ever catch yourself saying "optimize your workflow" or "implement best practices"?

These words sound impressive but mean absolutely nothing.

When you use fuzzy terms like "optimize," "enhance," or "improved performance," your customers mentally translate this to: "blah blah generic advice blah blah."

Why do we CSMs love vague language so much?

• It feels safer (and less like we're bossing customers around)
• We've absorbed too much marketing-speak from our company
• Sometimes we're covering for gaps in our own knowledge
• It gives us wiggle room if things don't work out exactly as planned

But here's the thing: every vague statement chips away at your credibility.

Look at this classic CSM advice: "You should optimize your workflow configuration for better results."

What customers actually hear: "I have no idea what specific changes they want me to make. This sounds like generic advice they give everyone."

The fix? Get ridiculously specific: "Reducing your automation rules from 15 to 5 will improve your page load time by 40%."

Boom! That's advice they can actually use!

Before sending any customer communication, ask yourself these questions:

• What exact behavior am I trying to create?
• What specific steps do they need to take?
• What precise numbers will show success?
• Which actual people need to be involved?
• What exact dates should they expect results?

Real examples that work:

When adoption is lagging:

❌ "Your team needs to increase engagement with the platform."

✅ "Currently only 5 of your 20 licensed users are logging in weekly. Have all department heads complete the admin training by March 15th, then require their teams to use the dashboard for weekly reports starting March 20th."

When explaining resource needs:

❌ "You'll need to allocate adequate resources for the integration phase."

✅ "The integration requires a dedicated engineer with API experience for approximately 15 hours over the next two weeks, plus 2 hours of your database administrator's time for access configuration."

When recommending changes:

❌ "We suggest making your dashboards more user-friendly." ✅ "Based on your users' click patterns: 1) Move your top 3 used widgets to the top left, 2) Reduce date range options from 8 to the 3 your team actually uses, and 3) Set the default view to 'Department Summary'."

Being specific isn't being controlling—it's respecting your customer's time by giving them information they can actually use!

3. Focus on consequences customers care about 🎯

Let's be brutally honest: your customers don't care about your product features.

They care about their problems, priorities, and pain points.

This is where most CSMs crash and burn! We get so excited about our cool features, technical specs, and success metrics that we forget to translate them into language that matters to customers.

The disconnect is real:

• You talk about: Platform uptime
  • They care about: Avoiding business disruption
• You talk about: Feature utilization
  • They care about: Employee productivity
• You talk about: Administrative efficiency
  • They care about: Slashing costs
• You talk about: Implementation milestones
  • They care about: Time-to-value

Look at this classic CSM pitch: "You should upgrade to our Enterprise plan for enhanced security features."

What customers hear: "They're trying to upsell me expensive technical bells and whistles I don't understand or need."

The solution? Connect your message directly to outcomes they're measured on:

"Your company's recent expansion into financial services means you'll need SOC 2 compliance. Our Enterprise plan includes the security features required for this certification, preventing delays in your expansion timeline and avoiding the $150,000 in consulting fees most companies spend on compliance readiness."

Now you're speaking their language! 🙌

Want to discover what really matters to them? Ask these questions:

• "What would success look like for this project by the end of the quarter?"
• "Which metrics are you personally evaluated on by your leadership?"
• "What keeps you up at night regarding this part of your business?"
• "If our solution could solve just one problem perfectly, what should it be?"

Then tailor your message to different stakeholders:

For Executive Sponsors:

❌ "We should implement the analytics dashboard."

✅ "Implementing this analytics dashboard will increase sales conversion by 15%, matching what your top competitor achieved last quarter, and supporting your board's priority to grow market share."

For IT/Technical Leads:

❌ "You should enable single sign-on."

✅ "Enabling SSO will reduce security incidents by 40%, lower password reset tickets by 60%, and free up approximately 8 hours of IT team time weekly."

For Department Heads:

❌ "Your team should use the automation features more."

✅ "Using these three automation features will reduce campaign setup time from 5 days to 2 days, allowing you to launch 6 more campaigns per quarter without adding headcount."

For End Users:

❌ "This feature improves data entry efficiency."

✅ "This shortcut cuts your weekly reporting time from 3 hours to 30 minutes and automatically highlights your achievements to your director."

When you connect to outcomes they care about, you're not just a vendor – you're a strategic partner worth keeping! 🚀

How to know if it's working (the proof is in the results!) 🔍

Want to know if your communication style is actually working? It's not about how good you feel after hitting send!

These measurable signals tell you you're finally getting through:

• Customers can explain next steps without prompting
• Those "wait, I'm confused..." emails suddenly disappear
• The right people show up to meetings (prepared!)
• Implementation timelines stay on track without surprise delays
• Those dreaded escalations become rare events
• Customers actually implement your recommendations without 5 follow-ups
• Renewal conversations feel collaborative instead of defensive
• You overhear customers accurately explaining your value to colleagues
• Customer satisfaction surveys specifically mention clarity as a strength

Your bank account will thank you! 💰

The communication traps even veterans fall into 🚫

Even experienced CSMs make these mistakes. Be honest, how many of these do you recognize in yourself?

Burying bad news in fluffy language that hides the point

❌ "We've made exciting progress on several fronts, and while we're still working through some timeline adjustments..."

✅ "The feature release is delayed by 3 weeks."

Using technical jargon that makes customers feel dumb

❌ "The API throttling limits are causing 429 errors during the OAuth handshake process..."

✅ "Your system is making too many requests at once, causing connection failures."

Talking product features instead of business outcomes

❌ "Our new dashboard has 15 visualization types and real-time processing!"

✅ "This dashboard cuts 70% off your monthly reporting time."

Sending novels with critical info buried in paragraph 7

❌ A 900-word email where the deadline change is hidden in the middle

✅ A 200-word email that starts with "Important: Deadline moved to June 15"

Assuming knowledge the customer doesn't have

❌ Discussing advanced features when they haven't mastered basics

✅ "Now that you've set up user permissions, let's talk about custom roles."

Avoiding tough conversations by hinting instead of stating

❌ Vague references to "compliance considerations"

✅ "Your current usage violates the terms of service in three specific ways."

Overwhelming with options instead of making recommendations

❌ "Here are 12 different approaches you could take..."

✅ "Based on your situation, I recommend starting with Option A."

When communication still breaks down (because sometimes it will!) 🛠️

Even communication pros hit roadblocks. Here's how to recover fast:

When customers look confused:

• Simply ask: "Have I explained this clearly? What's your understanding?"
• Get them to explain it back to you in their own words
• Watch for the confused head tilt in video calls!
• Try switching channels—some people process written info better than verbal
• Use analogies from their industry that make concepts click

When explaining complex technical stuff:

• Create a visual aid that shows exactly what to do
• Break it into numbered steps with clear outcomes for each
• Use the "what, why, how" approach for everything
• Record quick demo videos for processes they'll repeat

When they're not taking your recommendations:

• You might be focusing on the wrong priorities—what do THEY care about?
• Ask directly: "What's holding you back from implementing this?"
• Find an internal champion who gets it and can fight for you
• Share a story of another customer who had the same hesitation (and how it worked out)

When fixing misinformation:

• Never play the blame game: "I see where the confusion happened"
• Clearly state the correct information (remember that direct topic sentence!)
• Document everything in writing after calls
• Create a shared source of truth both teams can reference

The difference between struggling CSMs and superstars isn't product knowledge—it's communication that customers actually understand, value, and act on!

Ready to transform your customer relationships? Start with just ONE of these techniques today!