It happens at airline gates, on planes prior to takeoff and immediately after landing when mobile phones are allowed. It happens in hotel lounges, in coffee shops, and (quite disturbingly) in public restrooms…

“I don’t know if we are going to get <customer name withheld> what he needs. These guys at <customer company name withheld> are being completely unreasonable.”

“We have got to do something about <customer company name withheld>. These guys at <presumed competitor name withheld> are going to be al over them if we don’t address this.”

Discussions such as these remind me of some of the U.S. propaganda campaigns from WWII that reminded citizens of the dangers of talking freely and in public about their manufacturing work and military personnel deployments.

I recently overheard both of these conversations within a 15 minute span in an airport club lounge. Although I admit that on a (very) few occasions I have allowed my mobile phone speaking voice to get a touch too loud in public, it is overheard discussions such as these that make me cringe. Like many of you, I travel frequently to spend time with customers and employees. Like you, I overhear many conversations in public spaces that I believe should be considered confidential. Of course all of us in the sales profession know that intentional eavesdropping on others’ business conversations is unethical – especially if we attempt to use that information to our advantage. This is especially true if we happen to overhear something that pertains directly to one of our customers, our competitor, our own company or, at the very worst, a specific individual by name at any of the above (I have overheard all). But it is considered eavesdropping when someone is in a public space providing details of their job to everyone within earshot? Unknown to the offender, many co-travelers consider such acts a bit of a show if the offender is animated or agitated enough. What truly amazes me is that these transgressions are often committed by what appear to be experienced professionals.

I’m not a complete Luddite and I realize that the proliferation of mobile communication and computing technologies has redefined many of our social mores. However, much as the Allies’ intelligence services knew of the existence of Axis infiltrators, the possibility exists that individuals from the companies omitted in the quotes above are nearby when they were mentioned. Based on my experience in some of the smaller markets in the midwestern United States, there is a very strong possibility that employees of the largest employers in those cities are present when their company name is yelled across the departure gate. So, a bit of advice…

Imagine if someone from your customer heard you blurting the status of a current proof of concept while seated at a table at a restaurant…

Imagine if the spouse of a customer stakeholder heard you bellow their beloved’s name in the line at the coffee shop…

Imagine if your competitor heard you discussing the roadblocks to obtaining the technical win with a new customer initiative…

Imagine if the VP of vendor relations at your customer heard your vitriolic verbiage about the challenges of doing business with them…

How would any of the above effect your ability to gain customer support and win the privilege of helping them use your solution to run their business? Lifejacket, anyone?

And besides, it simply makes the offender look like an obnoxious dolt. This is not the sort of professional that any enterprise IT supplier would want representing them in the marketplace. Professionalism and discretion should still rule the day, even with our new social mores. Although the fate of the free world may not be resting in the balance, loose lips can still sink ships.