10

To Banish from Your Sales Language

Phrases

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About Dirk Zeller

For more than 25 years Dirk Zeller has sold, published, spoke, coached and motivated salespeople worldwide. His sales strategies, time management systems and success principles have impacted people worldwide to expanding their lives.

Dirk has spoken to audiences worldwide and is widely regarded as one of the most influential

thinkers and sales strategists of his generation. He has authored more than 10 books that have achieved best seller status.

For additional information or to shop for Dirk Zeller’s best selling books, DVD’s, CD’s, online training materials, and more go to www.DirkZeller.com.

This book is a how-to guide for gaining the skills and knowledge to become a Champion Telephone Salesperson. It’s about acquiring the knowledge, organization habits, time management techniques, personal motivational strategies, action, and positive attitudes necessary to enable you to rise to the top in both your business and life.

Telephone Sales for Dummies® is not a book of theory, but of “real stuff ” that works. It’s packed with proven programs, processes, tested techniques, and tried-and-true skills, strategies, and scripts.

10 Phrases to Banish From Your Sales Language| 3

Achieving success as a salesperson is as much about what you don’t say as it is about saying

the right thing. You’ll have times when you’re best not to talk at all – listening to the prospect often results in key information that can help you make the sale. And when you do have the floor whether that is face to face or phone to phone, you want to be aware of certain words and phrases that seem to halt communication rather than further it along in the direction you want. Consider the ten questions, words, or phrases that are taboo for the salesperson.

1. “Do You Have Time To Talk?”

Asking someone if they have time to talk is probably the worst way to open a sales

call. Of course, you want to be respectful of an individual’s time, but you can utilize more-effective ways of conveying that courtesy without giving the prospect an open invitation to say no.

A couple effective examples to determine whether the prospect has time include the

following:

“I recognize that you have objectives for the day, so I will be brief.”“I’m aware of your time constraints, so I will get to the point quickly.”

2. “I Sent You Some (Property Information, Market Trends Reports, ect, ect,) and I was Wondering If You Got to it?”

This statement is a dead end. A common sales tactic is to email leads some information

with the intent of “warming up” the prospect. This tactic is rarely effective. If you’re contacting a prospect either buyer or seller, chances are good that the email didn’t get read. So that leaves you summoning up a big, fat, no response. And what can you say to that?

Even if the prospect has received the email with information, you run the risk that

the information was put aside or deleted. In any scenario, your chances of launching conversation in a positive direction are slim. Expect responses such as, “I don’t know, maybe,” or “Yeah, I think I got it.” Not the promising start you’d like.

You’re better off to begin with a more direct approach, such as “Bob, this is Fred Smith

with ABC Real Estate, the reason for my call is…” rather than tossing away control of the conversation’s direction.

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3. “I’ll Send You Another.”

I call this the reload response approach. Real Estate Agents typically pull out this phrase

when they open with the equally ineffective “Did you receive my email, brochure or the properties I sent you?” opening. Talk about a wasted effort! Chances are, this follow-up email will suffer the same fate as the first one.

Before you offer to resend the information, first confirm that you’re offering the

prospect something that she’s interested in. For example, you can say something like:

“I know that you’re time crunched as well as I am. Would you have an interest in exploring…”

“If I sent you our (brochure, the properties, our best values list, current market trend report) would you have enough time to review it before we booked an appointment to speak for the middle or end of the week?”

4. “You Wouldn’t Want a ___, Would You?”

Place anything in the blank: “to buy a house,” “to list your home,” “to upgrade your home,”

“Take advantage of today’s real estate market.” However, using negative assumption results in a negative outcome. This phrase practically begs the prospect to say no.

The salesperson who uses it demonstrates a total lack of confidence or belief in their

service – not a rousing endorsement for the prospect to listen further. Toss this question out and expect to hear a no – or the click of the receiver.

5. “But…”

But seems like such a harmless little word, thrown into your dialogue simply to

connect one thought to the next. But….this innocuous three-letter work serves as a secret code to a prospect: It reveals that you’re about to manipulate him. Of course, that may not be your intention at all.

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Consider how these common expressions can be misleading due to that but:

I can appreciate your views, but…I understand your concerns, but…

No matter what words you choose to follow “but”, the prospect hears something like

the following:

I can appreciate your views, but you’re wrong.I understand your concerns, but I’m going to manipulate you into buying anyway.

There you go, trying to be understanding and nice, and that “but” negates all your efforts,

if you use contrast and comparison in selling your service and value. I highly recommend that you replace “but” with a more positive link. Choose “and,” which permits the prospect to form his own conclusion. In addition to but, don’t use other similar words such as, however, yet, still, notwithstanding, nevertheless, be that as it may, all the same, or but’s uncultured cousin, yeah, but.

6. “You Are Wrong”

Your prospects secure information about you and your company from many

sources, including friends, business associates, competitors, third party sites, reviews and media. Frequently, their information is incorrect. Perhaps they have a partial story or the story that your competitors want to convey. Jumping in to tell them they’re wrong isn’t the way to disabuse them of their inaccurate beliefs.

A better approach is to encourage the prospect to share as much detail as possible about

her concerns. Ask questions, let her talk, and try to find out the source of the misinformation. Try these phrases to uncover the source:

“That’s interesting; I have not heard that. Can you tell me where you heard that?”

“I try to keep a pulse on the industry and its developments. It sounds like you have insider information. Can you share it?”

By allowing the prospect to talk rather than right off the bat issuing strong denial, you

validate her perspective – and you discover the source of the misinformation. After you know where the story came from, you’re likely to have an easier time turning the tide.

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7. “The Estimates Are Not Accurate”

Because there is such a large volume of information on the internet for buyers and

sellers it’s easy to get into a battle with consumers on its accuracy. As an industry insider we all know that the accuracy of online home value tools, and properties advertised on 3rd party sites can make our job more difficult.

Some consumers give higher marks in credibility, authority and trust to the Zillow’s,

Trulia’s and Realtor.com’s of the world than real estate agents. When you are in the initial relationship building stage with a prospect, rather than using inaccuracy as a differentiation use an up sell strategy. Statements like:

“Zillow is a good basic tool for buyers. There are a couple of things you don’t have access to using Zillow _____, _________, _________, are those something you would want?”

Our objective is to upsell prospects to a higher level of service, value and information.

8. “I’m Calling Because We have a New Property That Has Hit The Market.”

Use this correctly and it’s effective with earnest buyers and sellers. The danger is

putting them into a pattern of a knee-jerk-no response, this phrase can trigger a reflex no. By alerting the prospect that you’re planning to promote a new or latest property. As soon as you open with some prospects they are already formulating a no response.

Instead of giving the prospect a shortcut to no, lead with benefits of the property or why you

thought of them. How this property aligns with the previous discussions of what they expressed they wanted. The lower your market inventory goes coupled with a motivated prospect the better this strategy does work. The key is; do you know the prospect, and how many conversations have you had.

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9. “I’ll Let You Get Back To Work”

This phrase, along with its close cousin “I won’t take up any more of your time,”

denigrates the value of what you do by implying your call isn’t really work or worth as much attention as the prospect’s other work. You’re offering an important service, you transfer value through more in depth market knowledge access to rare opportunities in real estate and a host of other services and benefits. That buyer or seller prospect is most certainly, from both of your perspectives, worth the investment of time.

10. “You Maintain…,” “ You think….” And So On….

Statements like these send up an alarm to your call recipients – kind of like those air-raid

whines in old World War II Movies, warning of an enemy attack. And the prospects do the same thing those citizens did in the movies – they run for shelter.

Their defense strategy may involve shutting down, clamming up, or, in some cases,

launching an attack. Keep the following types of phrases (and similar ones) out of your sales calls:

You claimYou omittedYou forgotYou overlookedYou don’t understandWe must haveYou should

When prospects feel challenged, cornered, offended, or threatened, you can expect

them to fight back and – to no surprise – annihilate the possibility of a sale. Rather, you want to use softer approaches to point out an error or point of confusion, such as:

“I must not be hearing you correctly; can we explore this further.”

“I am confused, so can we spend a few minutes so I am clear.”

“I must not be as effective as I hoped in communicating our recommendations to you; let me try again.”

The key to increase sales is to know what to say and also what not to say. Avoidance of

the typical mistakes can increase your sales by 30%. Test yourself this week to rid your sales efforts of these errors.