The Yellow Submarine and other lessons from the children's hospital

Parking in a yellow submarine was not among the top 100 things I expected to happen last week. But if I've learned something over the years, it's to expect the unexpected and be ready to learn a lesson or two in the process.

Let me backtrack a little: I'm fortunate enough to live near a mid-sized city with its own children's hospital downtown. I'm even more fortunate because my kids and I have really not had to use its services much over the past 15 years.

That changed last week when my daughter experienced some blood clotting issues and we needed to go to Children's Mercy.

In retrospect, I am obviously grateful for the excellent care we received. But, as I reflected this morning, I started to think that the experience also had some things to teach me professionally.

Here's a few of them:

When the stakes are high, it's great to have a specialist on your side: My daughter's regular doctor is excellent. Both of my kids have been seeing her for years. But, this time, she knew that we were dealing with something that required a specialist. And we were fortunate enough to be referred to an expert in childhood blood coagulation and platelet disorders. As a parent, it was a relief to know that her new doctor saw cases just like hers every day.

I imagine that buyers of translation and copywriting services might have a similar experience. At the end of the day, it just feels better to entrust your project to someone who understands the ins and outs of your industry. Someone who can read between the lines and understand the bigger picture of what you are trying to communicate.

Talk their language: My daughter had a dozen vials of blood taken that day. The hospital tested her for all kinds of clotting issues, many of which I hadn't heard of before. But the nurse took the time to explain each test both with its full name and in a way that my daughter could understand. For example, she described platelets as glue, which helped her grasp their function.

Similarly, I recently attended an online event about waste management in Europe where one speaker talked about 'R1 plants' – to the bemusement of another attendee who was just getting acquainted with industry lingo. Another translated blog post I came across last week referred to 'yellow bags' with no further explanation, expecting that international readers would understand the nitty-gritty of Germany's waste collection system. It's important to make sure that we write with our target audience in mind – and sometimes that means explaining terminology and keeping the message easy to understand.

Know your client: From the receptionist and the nurse taking her vitals to the kind soul who kept her talking and distracted throughout the blood work, everybody took the time to get to put her at ease. Everybody made a point to look her in the eye. Everybody asked her a question about what made her tick, from school sports to the latest Netflix shows.

As service providers, it is essential to know our customers and their preferences. Just as some people prefer to keep their personal and professional lives separate, others will happily chat about how they spend their free time. When onboarding new clients, I always try to ask a few questions and take notes. That way, I am always ready to recommend new books or documentaries that they might be interested in the next time we talk.

Have a backup plan: At check-in, the receptionist needed me to e-sign some - okay, a lot of - forms that she sent me by text message. The problem? The message never came through. A second attempt failed. And a third. They needed the documents in electronic form to get consent to treat her, so this was a problem. Finally, she ended up emailing them to me and I filled them out in the waiting room.

It reminded me of the time when my laptop showed the blue screen of death 30 minutes before a project was due. It was not my finest hour. I spent five minutes panicking and imploring my computer to restart before remembering that my file was automatically backed up. All I needed to do was boot up my old PC and download the file from the server before sending it off to the client. Which reminds me that it is time to double-check those settings...

Make it memorable: Children's Mercy knew that the last thing parents are thinking about when they come to the hospital is where they parked their car. So they painted each floor of the underground carpark a different colour and gave it a memorable and child-friendly name. As we were finally leaving hours later, I honestly had no idea where we had parked. That was until we got in the lift, and my daughter saw the buttons and remembered that we parked on the Yellow Submarine floor (thankfully, we didn't have to go as far down as the Turquoise Train or the Purple Plane). And we found our car and drove home for some rest and re-hydration.

Whether it's a translation niche or a distinctive conversational copywriting style, it's important to stand out from the crowd and have a signature brand. That way you are the first person that comes to mind every single time. And your customer is not left stumbling around in the dark, hoping that what they are looking for is just around the corner.

As for us, it's full steam ahead. We'll be back parking in the Yellow Submarine in a few weeks' time for some answers. Looking back, I'm profoundly grateful for the care we received and continue to receive from the hospital – and also for the fact that I'm still not wandering around trying to find my car.