I love words—which is great being in sales for I get to use them all the time. Words are powerful–they can be emotionally charged and they can help you create a mental picture for your customer. When you are planning how to communicate, you want to choose words that are truthful, believable and passionate.

Honesty is important because few things can damage a relationship quicker than being less than honest. And you want what to say to be believable—which ties in nicely with telling the truth. In fact, when you point out flaws or the downside of using your product, what you gain is credibility. You demonstrate integrity. This will help set you apart from your competition.

Using words that are passionate demonstrates your interest and keeps the customer involved. Think of how people describe passion—excitement, enthusiasm, ardor. When you are passionate it is difficult to be boring—and unfortunately, our customers have probably been involved in enough boring sales calls.

During each sales conversation, your goal should be to communicate a compelling message. The words that you choose can enhance your delivery so that the message becomes powerful, memorable, and highly effective. You don’t need to select words that are complex or esoteric. Often the simpler words can mean the most. What is important is that you choose words that your customer understands.

When planning the words to say, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Often when we are discussing something with colleagues, we use acronyms and shortcuts. In fact I often laugh listening to ourselves; it is as if we have developed a secret language. But although your colleagues may use these terms, you don’t want to assume that your customer understands them. When communicating, you want to be clear, to be easily understood. I’ve been on the receiving end of some conversations where acronyms were used and it is embarrassing for both parties when you have to stop and ask, “What does xyz mean? I’m not familiar with that term.” It also breaks up the flow of the conversation.

Torture your words. It is worth the time to plan not only what to say but how to say it. Words can motivate your customer to think or act in a specific way. Select words that will resonate with your customers and then practice saying them. You want your conversation to flow naturally and not sound stilted. Once you start doing this, you’ll be amazed at what a difference it can make. It is the words that you choose that will make all the difference in how your customer responds to you during your sales conversation.