Ban five words to boost sales team pipeline progress (12)

Ya but, interested, I’m different, good meeting and proposal. Words and phrases commonly used by sales teams. But do they help or hurt? If you are managing a sales team, it could be inside or outside sales, B2B, B2C, doesn’t matter. In order to guide your team performance to maximum potential, I’d like to suggest that you ban certain words and phrases from your sales discussions.

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Title: Ban 5 words to boost sales team pipeline progress

Ya but, interested, I’m different, good meeting and proposal. Words and phrases commonly used by sales teams. But do they help or hurt?

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You are managing a sales team, it could be inside or outside sales, B2B, B2C, doesn’t matter. You seek to guide your team performance to maximum potential. I’d like to suggest that you ban certain words and phrases from your sales discussions.

Treat them as you would pejoratives, slanders of your mother and insults to your honor and integrity. Ban these words from your sales teams vocabulary and you will close more deals and close them faster.

Interested

This is a meaningless, nebulous sales word that tells us nothing of substance and diverts attention from the real issues. The word “interested,” tends to mask ignorance of the real issues that relate to probability of sale.

As a manager, does the word interested help you to determine if a prospect fits your profile or not, has expressed certain needs, described a goal or problem to be fixed, share their decision-making process, buying criteria or timetable? No, it doesn’t.

If you have been a sales manager for even a little while, you know that sales pipeline reports are mostly fantasy, wishful thinking and rationalizations.

You can’t manage a team to a result, coach them up or upskill them if you don’t have real information on what they are or are not doing and their probabilities of success.

Ban the word interested and do your reps a favor by requiring substantive answers to specific questions that help you determine the authenticity of an opportunity and coach your rep appropriately to increase the chances of success.

Another phrase to ban, ya but.

As to every sales truth and winning strategy and tactic, there are exceptions to the rule. Some things that work well most of the time, sometimes do not.

Top performers stay focused on actions, behaviors and strategies in the high-probability zone. That is what they stay focused on, what works most of the time.

Mediocre and lower-level reps, they are experts in knowing that not everything works in every situation. But ask them the best way to handle a common question, objection, scenario, and you tend to get… well, it depends, you never know, it’s always different. Total crap.

Lower performers are experts on the exceptions to the rules, but very foggy when it comes to knowing the behaviors most likely to reach the results they seek. Ban, ya but’s.
Another phrase to Ban I’m different, we are different.

Many with average talent and drive get congruent with the behaviors of top producers and make a lot of money.

Many other sales reps, with superior talent and drive, shoot themselves in the foot with the “I’m different” rationale for not having to do what works. We are different, this industry is different, this side of the street is different, that is why we don’t have to do what works, what the most successful do or what we are uncomfortable with.

It is a common self-sabotaging behavior. Ban “We are different” type discussions.

Good meeting, Another phrase to kiss good-bye. Like the word interested, it is a lazy phrase and often masks ignorance of what should be discussed to advance a sale.

And lastly, and this is more of a mindset change than a word to ban, Proposal. Think of confirmations, not proposals. Proposal suggests an exploration. What you should be seeking is confirmation, which presupposes discussion of key terms, conditions, timelines and other stuff which must be agreed upon to reach mutual agreement.

Think of confirmations, not proposals.

Hope this got you thinking.

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Thanks for listening.