"The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug."
– Mark Twain
Apparently, Mr. Twain, famous of course for his mastery of the language to communicate ideas and various political points, was also famous – though less so – for his mastery of the use of profanity, much to his wife’s chagrin.
As legend has it, there was an incident at home when his wife had accidentally banged her head on something hard and, for the first time, uttered all the words she had for so long chastised her husband for using. Not missing a beat, Mr. Twain – face covered with shaving cream – popped his head out the bathroom door and quipped to his betrothed, "Honey, you’ve got the lyrics right, but the rhythm needs some work!"
Words. Dare I say, we use them every day. It’s hard to imagine a profession in which the words we use and how we use them could be more important than in the profession of selling.
We’ve all heard, "A picture is worth a thousand words." But the converse of that can be true, too – a word can be worth a thousand pictures.
To be sure, words are the lifeblood of other professions, too. In politics, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself," in law, "If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit," in marketing, "The Softer Side of Sears."
What about sales? Are words the lifeblood? If so, then many of us need a transfusion!
After all, what is selling if not the words we use and how we use them? Take the cold call … please! (I couldn’t resist that). Sam Salesguy calls Peter Prospect, whom Sam doesn’t know and has no reason whatsoever to be expecting Sam’s call. Sam is truly calling Peter out of the blue.
"Hi Mr. Prospect, this is Sam Salesguy from The Vendor Corporation, how are you?"
Sam is dead! That common and quite acceptable greeting we use to break the ice with people we know, "How are you?" in the context of a cold call doesn’t break any ice. It screams, "Hi, I’m an obnoxious salesperson who wants to waste your time pitching junk that you don’t need or want." Yet, this is precisely how most cold calls continue to open.
Let’s step back and talk about sales results. In fact, let’s connect the dots from sales results all the way down to the sounds that emanate from our mouths when we open them.
Salespeople exist for one reason: to contribute profitable revenue to their own companies (Incidentally, while this may seem a blinding insight into the obvious, it’s not what most salespeople say. But that’s another column.).
One of the ways they do this is by committing resources (their own time and other company resources) according to potential return. Does it really make sense to spend three days putting together a proposal just because the prospect says, "Hmm, why don’t you send me a proposal?" But, in fact, that’s exactly what most salespeople would do.
Why? Three very separate reasons, actually. The hyper-optimistic salesperson actually thinks the mere request for a proposal signals an opportunity. We can’t help him.
Another, slightly more street-savvy salesperson, senses that he might be spinning his wheels on this but doesn’t want to appear unresponsive. So, invoking the "spirit of customer-focus," (which, to me, is like politicians invoking, "It’s for the children") he proceeds with the proposal.
The third salesperson knows that responding is almost certain to be a waste of time and wants the prospect to know this. But he does the proposal anyhow. Why? He didn’t know what words to use to say "no" in a way that would not-at least in the salespersons’ mind – alienate this prospect.
What are the sales results here? The obvious cost of wasting time and other resources on a proposal that’s going nowhere and, therefore, the not-so-obvious cost of not having this time to pursue opportunities that are real and winnable.
The "language of sales" is not about using fancy, stuffy or esoteric words. To a large extent, it’s just the opposite. As my college English professor said, "Don’t ‘utilize utilize’ when you can ‘use use.’"
No, the words we use and how we use them are, for the sales professional, about clarity, completeness and control.
And, henceforth (speaking of stuffy words), this column will focus on, the language of sales.
