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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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Neuro Linguistic Programming (also known as NLP) was created in the 1970’s. The idea behind it was to understand human communication beyond just the words being used, with obvious implications to sales. Over the last 30 years most researchers have come to the conclusion that it is a highly subjective semi-science that should be used with caution, if at all.

NLP was initially used in psychology and counseling. It wasn’t long until sales practitioners of one sort or another started applying NLP theories to sales training. Am I the only one that has noticed that every new type of pop-psychology is ultimately applied to sales? My most displeasurable example of this was the distortion of the data about the importance of body language in communication (The Myth of Body Language in Communication). I still hear sales trainers refer to that and it makes my skin crawl.

The meta-model of NLP says that when one human being communicates with another they go through the following steps: the speaker first has a thought, it’s coded into words, the words are spoken, the hearer receives those words, the hearer decodes those words and then interprets the thoughts. The concept is actually fairly interesting to consider because, after all of those steps, the potential for misinterpretation in human communication can be better understood. Clearly we can see how this could apply to interactions with our customers.

As appealing as the theory sounds, it is generally accepted that NLP has not withstood the test of time (especially in the area of sales training). It has not been adequately supported by legitimate research and smacks of “new age” thinking, which has more of a spiritual or philosophical appeal.

My feeling is that NLP sales training is unproven and if it were advertised on TV you’d find it at 3:00 in the morning on an infomercial.

Stick with the sales basics that are proven over time and represented in Sales Vitamins™. There are no magic pills in sales.

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Summary: It’s ironic that two of the most, if not the most, important sales skills you will need in a sales career are normally ignored in a salesperson’s development.

Companies spend lots of money on standardized sales training for their salesforce. This training almost always assumes that salespeople have basic abilities in the two fundamental areas noted below. It has been my experience that assuming all salespeople have this fundamental knowledge can be a big mistake. This is especially true since virtually all other sales skills are launched from these two skills. Deficiencies in these two areas normally go unspoken, because basic competency is assumed, thus making it difficult for the salesperson to adequately address competency gaps.

#1, Basic Grammatical Skills. I wish educators put greater emphasis on the importance of grammar in high school and college. If a salesperson’s spoken and written grammatical abilities are poor, they will not find a receptive customer audience. Whether you like it or not, people make quick decisions about your intelligence, knowledge and background based on your verbal and writing skills. Not only do most prospects and customers find poor skills in this area bothersome but it hinders the salesperson’s ability to communicate information effectively, and that’s an essential in sales. If you feel that your verbal and writing skills may need some work, then enroll in remedial courses immediately because your sales success and career are being negatively impacted. This will be an investment in yourself with a large return.

#2, Presentation Skills. Again, I wish educators would make a bigger point of this skill when future salespeople are in high school or college. The basic ability to stand in front of a group (small or large) and communicate ideas is an essential ability in sales. Whether you’re talking with one person or 50, you’re making a presentation. If you feel your presentation skills are not where they need to be, then connect with a Toastmasters chapter and develop those skills. This is an investment of your time that will pay substantial dividends.

Grammatical skills and presentation skills are the foundation for all sales skills. If these skills aren’t adequately developed they will permanently and adversely impact a salesperson’s effectiveness, earnings and career opportunities.

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