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Develop A Winning Vocabulary

Dear Colleagues, The NBA professional basketball season is in full swing. My beloved San Antonio Spurs are off to a great start in spite of a sometimes disjointed team defense effort. With the season come the interviews.

Oh…the interviews. Highly paid, college educated, celebrity athletes vomiting the same old "jock-talk" for which they have become known. It never ceases to amaze me that these celebrities with lots of disposable income cannot seem to hire a voice coach, a speech coach or take an English course.

Now I am not so naïve that I am suggesting that these athletic specimens of humans should go down in history as some of the greatest orators of our time. However, do you think they could mix in a little logical coherent development of their interview responses?

When asked what his team had to do to win that night, one well-known superstar actually said, "We have to do the things we need to do in order to win tonight."

Hey stretch… YOU THINK????

I love sports and athletes. As a kid I couldn't wait to watch the Wide World of Sports on Saturday afternoons. To hear Jim McKay say… "The human drama of athletic competition, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" still gives me chills.

But come on guys, could you possibly incorporate in a little personality in your interviews? I would love to hear Tim Duncan say, "Yeah, we gave them a 'butt-thumping' tonight. I knew the minute they walked on the floor, we were going to be playing against the Sisters of Perpetual Fear."

In my dreams…

So what does this have to do with increasing your business, your sales, your motivation, your career, your life?

Well, I got on my soapbox for a reason. Too many times I see and hear sales people give their routine pitch with absolutely no emotion at all. Their rote delivery is about as inspiring as a snail crossing the interstate, and many times with the same result.

People buy based on emotion. It doesn't matter what you buy; there is an emotional response behind it. What does the purchase do for you as a person? Every time you buy a product, sub-consciously you are asking and answering this question.

When your gray matter hits the right cylinder and you get excited about some feature or benefit of the product, BOOM, you buy. The more the excitement, the bigger the purchase, usually.

The interesting aspect of this is that it is only your perception. What excites you about a product may not excite me and certainly not Tim Duncan (nothing seems to excite him).

However, experienced seasoned sales professionals know that they better generate some emotion in the prospect or they won't be going to the bread store very often.

Where does that start? I believe that you first must be genuinely excited about the product or service you sell. In other words, you must have sold it to yourself first. After all, aren't you the most difficult person to sell?

The belief in your product or service creates excitement and enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is contagious. Enthusiasm is an emotion. Enthusiasm sells. Once you have enthusiasm and excitement about your product, you can go out and give the whole world a "butt-thumping".

Does this mean that you have to be a raving lunatic about your product? If that works for you, then go for it. However, a genuine belief and faith in your product or service creates a state of being that is calm and confident. This too, is highly contagious and persuasive.

The bottom line on this segment is "Do what you love and love what you do". If you are not totally proud and excited about what you do, change it. Change it now. Piggybacked to this idea is that you can also change the way you feel about what you already do. Search for all the good in your service and continue to embed those thoughts in your mind.

This internal vocabulary plays all the time like a never-ending CD. The first step is to 'beef-up' your vocabulary to yourself. It is much easier to sell after your have already sold yourself.

Once you go out into the world to visit with prospects and customers, take note of the words you use. I mean the nomenclature, the phraseology and actual words that come out of your mouth.

Here is a list of my top ten "mis-speaks" that most salespeople make. Remember that the words you use do influence the mind of your customer. Would it be better to set yourself up for the win and the sale from the very start of the conversation with your prospect?

This simple change in your vocabulary will make a huge difference in the way you look at your product. More beneficially, your customer will think differently about what you are selling.

Could you imagine your customer thinking of your product or service as an "investment" rather than a purchase? Having your customer "endorse your letter of agreement" is much more inspiring than "signing your contract". Most people associate contracts to lawyers. So take away any objections to your service from the start by using winning vocabulary.

With regard to the NBA elite, let's enjoy another season of athletic prowess and finesse, though we will grin and bear the interviews.

Till next time, take great care of yourself and your loved ones.

December 1, 2001

Paul Montelongo

"America's Construction Industry Motivator"

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