Phrases to Stay Away From on a Sales Call
While talking with a potential customer there are phrases that we find ourselves saying out of second nature and we don’t think about it. Sometimes these phrases do damage rather than good. I used to say one of these all the time until recently after my co-worker made it habit to comment every time he heard me say it.
Calling to Touch Base - This is a phrase I used to say quite a bit and am happy that I broke this habit. When you say this, it’s somewhat of a lie. You have an alterior motive by calling. You’re not calling to see how the kids are doing or if the house finally got remodeled. If you are just calling about something like that only, then sure go for it. Chances are you are using this as an ice breaker to get them to tell you where they are in a decision. So if that’s you’re purpose of the call, don’t lie to them by saying you’re calling to touch base, they know you’re calling to figure out what their decision is. Something like this is better: “We went over quite a bit of information the last time we talked. It can be rather cumbersome to take all that information in at one time. Did you have any questions about that information?”
To Be Honest or Honestly - You shouldn’t have to warn your prospect when you’re about to tell them the truth. Does that mean every other time you tell them something you’re lying if you don’t say “to be honest” first? There’s no alternative to this, you simply can cut that part off the beginning of your statement and just say what comes next. If you are confident in your replies, it will show.
As I said Before or Like I Said - Big no-no. When you say that phrase, it naturally comes off in a frustrated tone. It also gives off that you don’t think the prospect is smart enough to understand what you’re saying. Whether they are as dumb as box of rocks or not, you need to explain it to them in terms they will understand. If you have to say the phrase above, you didn’t explain it clearly before. Rather than saying “like I said” you can use something like this: “that would fall under the similar situation we discussed a moment ago” Using that phrase will make them feel like they came up with a new question and that you had an answer for more than one question that they had.
It’s hard to get yourself trained to not say these phrases while in the midst of a sales call. It will take awareness on your part to catch yourself when you say these things and to actively work to prevent it from happening. Some are easier than others to prevent from happening as if you’re used to do one of them all the time, it’s innate for you to let those phrases come out. Just practice and make yourself aware of when you do it and you can prevent it.