“Facts are simple and facts are straight,” the Talking Heads once sang. For those reasons, facts are often a utility communicator’s best friend. Inside a utility, facts are never in short supply, and communicators often face the challenge of getting factual or going home. But that same fact-based approach can fall flat when communicating with customers and other external stakeholders. The answer is not to tell untruths; rather, it is to manage perceptions. Until a customer trusts you, your facts will fall on deaf ears. And once they trust you, the facts become less important than the relationship.
