What if we treated customers like…?

From the outset, I understand that I’m going to sound in this post somewhat like my Dad used to, when he talked about how far he had to walk to school, and would preface almost every sentence with the phrase, “Well, in MY day…”

My online friend @MikeCane from Twitter forwarded me a thought-provoking blog post about “the destruction of adulthood.” In the post, author Brian S. Hall discusses running across video of old interviews with Woody Allen and Dick Cavett. What struck him was “how adult the conversation is. Views on politics, religion, sex, culture, books, psychoanalysis. You get the picture.”

Hall’s point is well taken. When I was a kid in elementary school, I remember it being a special occasion when I could stay up on a summer night and watch late-night television. I was seven or eight years old, and — at that time — the “Tonight Show” on NBC was hosted by Jack Paar. It’s amazing to think that in those days, “Tonight” featured the comedians of the day (just as Conan O’Brien continues to do) like Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Dick Gregory and more.

However, it also featured philosophers and thinkers, opera singers and authors, and even political leaders from John Kennedy to Fidel Castro, all of whom were treated in the same conversational, engaging manner.

Today, when a political figure appears with Leno, Letterman, O’Brien, or the other talkfests, he or she is expected to be light and breezy…to demonstrate their humility and humor…and maybe, like one former President, sit in with the band and play sax. It’s almost as if the networks — and the hosts — are afraid of serious conversation.

The strangest thought struck me when I reminisced about Paar and read the aforementioned blog: What if we started treating our customers like adults?

I’ve been sitting as a consultant in meetings lately where I’ve listened to conversations about the need to “dumb our message down” so the intended audience could understand. I’ve asked the question if we should have more faith in the people who will be receiving the information…and was met with deafening silence and “You gotta be kidding!” looks.

However, again, I wonder…would we be more connected with customers if we expected more from them instead of reducing our expectations and treating them like kids? (How many times have you heard that you have to write your messages to customers at a fifth-grade level?)

Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps in a world where sophomoric humor and sound-bite news rules, we just aren’t ready today for the kind of treatment we expected back in the ’60′s.

But, I sure wouldn’t call that progress.