Words That Sell

Your vocabulary shapes the way your prospects perceive you. The words you use may change attitudes, inspire confidence, build desire and create positive images in your prospect’s mind – or brand you as someone prospects would rather avoid. Your prospects need to know you’re ready, willing and able to serve their needs, so you need to know the words to convince them to do business with you. The five tips below will help you learn how to tailor your vocabulary to suit your prospect and close the sale.

1. Accuracy

Some salespeople work to broaden their vocabularies only to mispronounce new words or confuse one term with another. They may say relative when they mean relevant, or substitute reenumeration for remuneration.

Know the difference between denotations and connotations: Denotations are dictionary definitions of words; connotations refer to meanings that certain people may attach to words regardless of their actual meanings.

2. Appropriateness to the prospect

Words like “configuration” and “altercation” show you recognize and respect a prospect’s education level and broad vocabulary. With other prospects, the more common alternatives, “pattern” and “argument,” may work more effectively and ensure that your customer won’t need a dictionary to interpret your presentation.

Consider the buyer’s occupation as well; an accountant might know what you mean by “amortization” but the same word might be Greek to a biologist or a sheet metal worker. Since words change across state and regional borders, pay attention to where you are to help you decide what to say

3. Image-building capability

Carefully consider how the words you use create appealing or undesirable images in the prospect’s mind. Such terms as “complicated,” “expensive” and “slow” may have negative connotations for most of your prospects. Find positive ways to express yourself; instead of saying your product isn’t complicated or expensive, say it’s very easy to use and that it’s a terrific value.

Effective mental images should appeal to your buyer’s senses. Find out what product features or benefits appeal to your prospects most, then use descriptive terms that encourage them to imagine the feel, sight, sound or smell of your product.

4. Simplicity

Unless you’re trying to impress a very well educated or knowledgeable buyer (a tactic that can backfire) strive for simplicity in your words. If you want your buyers to concentrate on your presentation, don’t make them work too hard to understand you. Instead of using a lot of technical jargon to present computers or other machines, for example, simply describe what the technology does and how that benefits the prospect.

You might enjoy describing your product’s bells and whistles in detail, but prospects often just want to know what’s in it for them. Simple words don’t make you sound less intelligent, they make you sound more intelligible.

5. Listening

To find out how to talk to your prospects, stop talking. Every word your prospects say tells you more about what words you should use to build rapport and close the sale. Make mental notes of the words your prospects use and how they use them, then adopt a similar speaking style for your presentation.

Listen attentively for a unique speaking style. If your prospects use a lot of metaphors or anecdotes in their discourse, incorporate some into your presentation. If they pepper their speech with one-liners, you might try a humorous approach as well. You might be surprised at how easily you can learn how to speak to your prospects just by listening to them talk.

When competition is stiff, and prospects must decide between products that are almost identical in price and performance, the salesperson may be the deciding factor. Tailor your words to each prospect for presentations that are informative, understandable and build irresistible mental images and strong rapport. With a little effort, your words can set you apart – and above – the competition.