Confidence—we may think we are sending our customers the message that we are confident and competent, but the language we use might be giving us away. Many of us are raised to be humble and NOT “brag” about ourselves or our skills and that is fine—but if we let too much ambiguity creep into our language when talking with customers and prospects, we are sending a message that we don’t know what we are doing.
If your sales pitches and interactions with prospects and clients are peppered with phrases like “I think” or “maybe” or even “I suppose” then you are introducing elements of insecurity into the conversations. Of course, you won’t be able to eliminate these words from your vocabulary and speech all together, but if you are using them too much without balancing them with some more authoritative and “sure” words—there is a good chance you are not inspiring confidence and trust in the people you talk to.
I learned years ago that while it is okay to admit to not knowing something, there is a “stronger” way to do it. Saying something like “I don’t know the answer to that but I can research it and get back with you or I can find someone who does” is far better than hemming and back-tredding and just saying, “Uh…I don’t know.” People don’t expect perfection, but if they are going to have confidence in us, they need to know that we can deal with things head on.
If you are talking about delivery or products or things that you can do for the customer or client, really watch out for those words and phrases that introduce an element of “maybe”—instead, make sure to say what you mean and have confidence in stating your abilities and skills. You will get better responses and better results from the people you are communicating with.
Also: Act Like the Boss
They Need to Believe You Know What You’re Doing