8 Words to Avoid When Selling

I've read hundreds of sales messages and heard dozens of sales presentations. Probably 90 percent of them are full of words that are both trite and ineffective.

Here are the worst offenders:

1. "Exciting"
There is no word more boring than the word "exciting."  Claiming that something is "exciting" tells everybody that it's not. Instead, find something about your offering that actually excites the customer's interest.

2. "Innovative"
Same here.  I can't remember ever hearing Apple claim to be innovative; they just are.  That's true of every company that actually innovates.  For them, it's just normal everyday behavior. They don't have to point it out.

3. "Discount"
Let's leave this tired old term back in the world where "But, wait! There's more!" is state-of-the-art sales patter.  Look, your stuff has a price and maybe you've got some flexibility. But offering a "discount"?  How cheesy.

4. "Guarantee"
Everyone in the world who has an ounce of sense knows that a "guarantee" means absolutely nothing. "Guarantee" is just the word that people use when they're too chicken to use a word that has some real legal muscle, i.e. "warrantee."

5. "Honestly"
When this word comes out of your mouth, it makes everything else you've said so far seem like you were probably lying.  Same thing goes for starting a sentence with "To tell the truth,..." Say whut? You've been BSing up until now?

6. "Collaborate"
How did this dreadful word get into the business vocabulary, anyway? Yes, you've got to work together with people to get stuff done, but "collaborate"?  Hey, that's what the Vichy France did with the Nazis.

7. "Opportunity"
This is the classic case of a word that sounds positive but carries a huge load of "it's all about me."  Calling any sales situation an "opportunity" is telling the customer that you're all about closing the deal.  Just like any other opportunist.

8. "Quota"
On what planet does a customer care whether you make your numbers?  Selling is all about helping the customer make the best decision...for the customer.  When you're selling, your quota should be the farthest thing from your mind.

~From Inc.com

Dreamer vs. Doer

The Great Separator

One thing separates the dreamer and the doer.
It also separates the wishful from the wealthy.
Two people can have the same capabilities,
same hope and same aspiration,
but have radically different outcomes.

How?
One acted and the other did not.

ACTION is the great separator.

Right now, there are opportunities, ideas, dreams or aspirations in your life that you know you SHOULD act on, you WANT to act on, but you are afraid to do so.
Oh, you might be excusing your lack of action by your telling yourself you don’t know what to do, how to do it or if it will work out.

I can tell you firsthand, nothing I have ever accomplished had I done before.
I have been in wildly different industries: from the direct selling of environmental products, to real estate, to television, to educational software, to Internet media, to publishing and more.
None of these industries was I educated or trained to be in;

I had no experience in any of them previously—I just jumped in and started. And the outcomes evolved in ways well beyond what I could have planned for or envisioned at the beginning, meaning all the paralysis by analysis is useless anyway because it will never work out as you plan.

The key is to just get started.

Someone said to me recently, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step.” That’s the key—just take the first step. Then when you do, take another. One at a time—one after another.
Before you know it you will have risen to the top of an industry, maybe heights you could never have allowed yourself to dream of and set goals for, simply because you jumped in and got started.

That’s all it takes, ACTION.

How to achieve sales success?

With society’s generally negative view of salespeople, how can you be successful? If they shut the door on you or hang up thirty seconds into your pitch, there was never a chance, was there? Actually, yes, there was.

Here at Magnetic Consulting Group, we specialize in overcoming objections.  And we know that  in sales, the first few minutes are the most crucial. Too many people make the mistake of automatically going into their pitch and overwhelming the customer (who may, or may not need the service offered). But the most successful sales representatives do things a little differently.

Don’t overwhelm the customer at the get-go. Take time to introduce yourself and use questions to find out more about them—what they like, want, or need. Offer the opportunity to learn more about your product only after you’ve determined they might be interested.

It shouldn’t be about the sale. It should be about the customer and their needs. Talk to them like an acquaintance or friend—not like a salesperson. Read their body language. Are they in a hurry? Would it be better to talk another time? It’s your job to find out.

While rambling on and on might keep them in your company for longer, it definitely won’t convince them to purchase your product. It’s best to choose a few key points and stick to them. The goal is not to talk the whole time about you and your product—it’s to talk about the customer and their needs.

Lastly, assess the barriers to moving forward. Ask the customer about anything that might be standing in the way of them continuing to the next logical step. It’s important that you bridge this gap, because only after you’ve done so can you take the final step—inviting them to take action.