"Jargon allows us to camouflage intellectual poverty with verbal extravagance."
David Pratt, Foreign Editor, Sunday Herald
Buzz-riddled descriptive words may sound impressive but despite sounding important, there's usually little meaning nor substance behind the words.
Way too many in sales are using the same standard sets of sales jargon to describe situations as a replacement for just speaking plain old normal language. They rely on buzzwords to communicate concepts rather than explaining what they mean.
Let's get real for a moment... do you think this makes you sound or look smart? I bet it only adds more confusion especially when you need clarity.
Words matter and you must choose them wisely.
Communicate in a way that brings you to life. Hiding behind catch phrases and buzzwords is not a cool way to lead your sales life.
Have you met any gurus recently? What about ninjas? What about all the other self-anointed titles?
These words drive me freaking bonkers...
- Turnkey
- Value added
- Think outside the box
- Best in class
- Full-service
Nothing worse than an uneducated sales rep who recites information off the back of a brochure!
WEAK SALESPEOPLE HID BEHIND BUZZWORDS
It’s difficult to gain access to the C-suite. When you do get that meeting, it’s mission critical you maximize every minute. The last thing you want is to walk away empty handed, or worse, leaving the prospect confused and none the wiser about how you can help them do better business.
Don't be an empty sales suit!
Empty sales suits will try to cover up their lack of understanding and experience with science and jargon, all because they think it sounds good. All this does is confuse and alienate the buyer.
Hiding behind buzzwords and jargon prevents you from building rapport. Executive buyers are smart and will quickly see what's happening. Furthermore, they sense it immediately. They know when many in sales are out of their depth, as they lose interest and start looking at their watch, clear sign your meeting is over!
In George Orwell’s essay, “Politics and the English Language.” he shares his opinion on our reliance on “dying metaphors,” “pretentious diction,” “stale similes and idioms,” and other instances of mannered verbiage has clouded our thinking. He understood that if we only recite clichéd and meaningless phrases because they sound nice, we’re spared the effort and challenge of not only crafting our thoughts and opinions into fresh language, but actually confronting what our thoughts and opinions really are.
In other words, using unclear and cliched sales jargon reflects upon you with unclarity and canned thinking.
WHY SHOULD I TALK TO YOU? DON'T BE AN EMPTY SUIT!
Sales professionals, to be effective in opening business conversations you must speak the language of leadership. You must speak and act like an executive. Use language which precisely explains your thinking to the hearts and minds of those whom you wish to move to action.
One huge reason why executives' pay lip service is you're using sales jargon, canned crapola and buzzwords positioning you as a weak sales rep.
Live, walk, talk and breathe as a sales professional.
How well are you demonstrating competence? An executive appearance, presence and attitude may open some business doors of opportunity, however; without competence those can quickly dissipate.
Think about this equation...
An executive presence - competence = an empty suit
What happens in your first meeting, when the executive describes their problems and all you can contribute to the conversation is a stream of buzzwords, canned pitches and sales jargon? In a split second it becomes painfully obvious you have no clue about what they do, what problems they have or how you can even solve those problems.
This my friends is an empty suit. You are dead in the water!
STOP PLAYING BUZZWORD BINGO
Ditch the buzzwords, sales jargon and canned pitches. You're better than this!
Remove the business mask and become your true self. Ditch the facade and fakeness.
There are way too many sales reps out there who believe they are ‘A’ players, but they are nothing more than ‘C’ players hiding in an empty suit.
Expensive Armani suits are no substitute for business acumen. Fine clothing is not a substitute for brains.
I encourage all of you to look in the mirror...
- Are you being sincere with your clients?
- Are you bringing substance to your clients?
- Do you have that sparkle in your eyes with your clients?
Don't suffer in silence as the empty suit leads you down the road of obscurity.
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and modern strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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