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I’ve been noticing lately how many empty and overused sales words we use and I thought it was time I pointed out some in my sales blog. As sales professionals our most important tool is our words. That sales tip was given to me years ago and it has proven to be very true. I’ve put together a list of sales chatter that gets in the way of our sales skills and annoys customers or at best doesn’t even register with them. Customers appreciate when we use clear, sincere, non-jargon language with them.

1. “This is a win-win for everyone.” [Contrary to a lot of popular sales advice, customers don't really care that much about whether we win; they care that they win. I much prefer something like, "This solution is going to work well for you."]
2. “What would I have to do to get your business?” [This is really rookie sounding. My eyes hurt just reading it. Either the salesperson is not listening and/or not asking the right questions.]
3. “I’m just touching base with you.” [Why can't we be honest about why we're calling? It's a basic of how to sell. "I'm calling to see if that contract has been signed."]
4. “We are the biggest, best, oldest, best trained…” [I've observed that customers don't really appreciate all our verbal magnification about how wonderful our employer is. They want to know what we can do for them. Did you know this is the best sales tips sales blog in North America? See what I mean? Big turn off.]
5. “Please don’t hesitate to call me.” [How dated does that sound? If our prospects or customers need permission to contact us, we need serious sales help. We're going to need more than a few sales tips to fix this one.]
6. “I guarantee that…” [As salespeople we can't personally guarantee anything. This always sounds a little desperate to me.]
7. “Trust me.” [This has exactly the opposite meaning to every person in the known universe. Customers want sales help, not empty confusing statements.]
8. “To be honest…” [Now everyone is confused. Either you're now being honest and you weren't before or you always were and you're just reminding us.]

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You’ve probably noticed that we’ve changed the title of this blog to “Scott R. Sheaffer’s Sales Tips and Sales Advice Blog.” The reason for this was that our old title confused people sometimes as to what this blog was exactly about.

We’ll still keep the same logo and everything else will remain the same, including the content and format.

Thanks for being a regular reader.

Scott R. Sheaffer

Please tell your business associates about Scott R. Sheaffer’s Sales Tips and Sales Advice Blog. To subscribe: <click here> to receive by email or <click here> for the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Sales Vitamins™ has subscribers from many different countries. Today’s post is meant primarily for my U.S. readers.

I’ll admit it. My eyes water every time I hear the U.S. national anthem. Here’s why.

Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. and it’s a holiday that honors the men and women that have given their lives in military service. This holiday does not honor war itself in any way, but rather gives tribute to those that have made the greatest sacrifice as a result of it. Because they have given their lives, we enjoy many freedoms. One of these liberties is the ability to pursue the career and destiny of our choice.

If you are a U.S. citizen celebrating Memorial Day today, please pause, if just for a moment, to remember what these men and women, and their families, have done. All of us are beneficiaries of their heroism.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

I am fortunate to get many emails asking questions and making comments about sales.

There is one common theme that carries through all of this correspondence. All of our customers are just like us in the most important way. They’re human.

I received an email recently that helps make this point. I got permission from the sender to publish it anonymously. No further comment needed.

“Scott,

I have to deal with a nasty customer almost daily. If he wasn’t such a big customer I wouldn’t even bother with him. I was listening to yet another one of his complaints when the conversation took a turn I hadn’t expected. All of a sudden he apologized for “barking” at me so often and began to tell me about recently losing his wife to cancer. I was obviously very moved by his loss and his vulnerability. I will never view this man, or any other customer, as just a “customer” again. It reminded me that we are selling to people, first and foremost.”

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

There is most assuredly a chemical component to the salesperson-customer relationship. I like to call that bit of chemistry a salesperson’s “vibe.”

It can work for and against the sales professional.

We’ve all had days when every prospect and customer we touch turns to gold. I’m talking about those times when we almost become annoyed at the number of prospects and customers that are calling us to place large orders. It’s wonderful, but always temporary.

When we’re in the good “vibe” zone our positive “vibes” seem to gain momentum. We know that the next customer contact is going to yield even more gold. We have a good “vibe” going.

However, there are also days where we couldn’t sell a life preserver to a drowning man. We feel like we could quite literally give our products and services away and people wouldn’t be interested.

During those times nothing we do seems to work. Customers and prospects see us coming and head for the hills. They seem to have an early warning system. We have a bad “vibe” going.

When our “vibe” is good we must be sure to prospect, up-sell and cross-sell as much as we can. The “vibe” will end and we want to use it for all it’s worth.

For those times when we have developed a bad “vibe” we might want to consider calling it a day. My theory is, why ruin any more opportunities? I’m talking about a rare occurrence here by the way. If we’re getting a bad “vibe” more than once every quarter then we probably have other issues that need to be addressed.

What is this “vibe” that haunts and helps us? Is it confidence? Is it good luck? Is it the alignment of the planets? Is it God? No one knows. But rest assured that there is a “vibe” in sales and it makes the selling profession fun and mysterious. Learn to recognize and respond to it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

The following post is not intended as a political commentary about any candidate, but rather a sales analysis that uses a public figure as an example.

On January 7 while campaigning in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton was asked the following question by Marianne Young, “My question is very personal. How do you do it?” She was referring to the challenges that Hillary faces in campaigning for public office and managing her personal life. During her answer Hillary became emotional and began to cry.

Senator Clinton admits that this tear-up may have helped her win the New Hampshire election. Was it contrived or was it real emotion?

In January of 1993 her husband, Bill Clinton, became President of the United States and served until 2001. She undoubtedly had to deal with a lot of stress regarding her husband’s “extracurricular” activities before and during this period.

Since her husband has left office she has been very visible as a New York Senator and has been vigorously campaigning for the Presidency over the last year. In this entire time and through all of these events, is there any record of her crying or even showing any significant emotion in public before January 7 of this year?

On February 4 in New Haven, Connecticut Hillary welled up a second time while speaking to a small group of women at Yale. For at least 15 years Hillary has been in the global spotlight and we had never seen her cry, yet in a one month period she teared up twice in front of the cameras.

I feel confident in assuming that the crying was orchestrated. That kind of craftiness can get you in trouble with your customers and it may ultimately cause problems for Hillary. When we do things in sales that are not consistent with who we are, it ultimately turns our prospects and customers off. People resent being manipulated in any way.

What are some examples of ways we try to manipulate customers that almost always backfire?

1. Trying to exude a personality that is not our own, but one that we think the customer will prefer.
2. Pretending to deeply care about a customer’s personal life when we really don’t.
3. Acting like we are really having a bad month, when we’re not, in order to get a mercy order.

While Hillary won the New Hampshire primary she hasn’t done so well since. I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons is the lack of emotional authenticity that she has recently demonstrated.

Ironically - or maybe not - Marianne Young did not vote for Hillary in the primaries.

You’ve got to be real with your customers. Any time we are less than genuine or authentic our customers can tell and we lose credibility. Sales is a relationship game and the foundation of relationships is honesty.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer