Sales Skills Development Blog

6 Tips on What to Avoid in a Sales Call

  

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Your Words Are Important

1. Eliminate the grunts:  Um and Ah and Uh!
   Be comfortable with the silence and resume speaking when the thought is there.  People who use "um" to illustrate their thought process may appear less sure and less knowledgeable.
   
   
2. Sorta, kinda, shoulda - what?
   These words make you sound unsure of your ideas.  Casual language sounds unprofessional and sends the wrong message.
   
   
3. Avoid absolutes.
   When you use absolutes, you are asking to be proved wrong.  Substitute often for always and rarely for never.  Use absolutes sparingly.
   
   
4. Avoid slang or rough phrases.
   Avoid using slang like "ain't" or rough phrases like "that sucks."  They make you sound very unprofessional.  Find another way to say what you mean.
   
   
5. Stop the hard sell.
   Ending each though with "You know?" or "You know what I mean?"  Come across as the hard sell and are annoying.  People who abuse these phrases are seeking support for poorly explained ideas.
   
   
6. Avoid but and however!
   These words negate whatever was said before them and send a message to the prospect that you didn't mean what was said before "but" or "however".  Here's an example - "I understand why you might feel that way, however, there is another way to view this."  A simple pause will serve you much better than "however" ever will.

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