In my local market, one of the radio stations is playing regularly a public service announcement against drunk driving. As is often the case, the PSA is very well written and certainly has got me thinking.
The obvious intent of the message is to get my thinking about the dangers of drunk driving. Point taken. But for me, the story the thirty second spot has universal application beyond that initial intent. The basis of the commercial is the narrator talking about the word "probably," calling it the least convincing word in the English language.
Probably is certainly not a power word, or one that evolks confidence. And that has got me thinking about the selection of words that move people to action, or a lack of action in some cases.
At the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee famously told a general to "take that hill, if practical." That general evidently didn't think it was practical and didn't take the hill. As a result, the next two days the Union army had the high ground and won the battle, stopping the rebel army advance through the northern states.
Word selection is critical in every facet of our lives. The battles won or lost might not be as pivotal as Pickett's Charge during the Civil War, but in the day to day of business, your sales team the choices made are still critical.
I would encourage you to spend a few minutes listening to your sales reps and see for yourself. When they role play - they are role playing as a part of training, right? - are they talking with confidence, using words to suggest they know something instead of think they know? In the case of a staff that is not doing role playing, listen to them on the phone. Are they talking with their customer, mentioning the benefits of the product and the results you (the customer) will receive, or are they focusing on themselves?
Simply things like what is the distribution of your product. For example, many sales reps will tell the customer the distribution is "about 10,000." The interjection of the "about" into that phrase makes it less exact, and can have a negative impact on the perception of the customer. If the distribution is 10,000 then the salesperson should say "it is 10,000."
Setting up training for your team on word choice is a good investment. Jonha Richman wrote for Salesforce.com a guide for the most powerful words to use in sales and marketing. Richman charts five examples that should become a guide for your team on the right frame of mind for all communication with customers. And while I've focused on the verbal form of communication, these same rules would apply to email communication as well by your sales team.
https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2016/06/powerful-sales-and-marketing-words.html
Spend a few minutes shopping on Amazon.com and you'll see one of Richman's examples of great word choices. Amazon will try to sell you new products to increase their revenue and thus profits. It is how they do it that is noteworthy, and something your sales team could learn. Rather than saying, "Here are some products to considering buying," Amazon let's you know "We have some new recommendations for you." Simple word choices puts the focus on the buyer in a consultative approach.
Picking powerful words is likely training you've never considered doing in the past, and that could be because you didn't need to. For years, your sales staff like mine was experienced and had already developed a proven sales method with a quality vocabulary. But the job market has changed, and the new candidates you are getting likely have significantly less experience than those previously.
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