Black Sales Journal

Slang and Profanity

Business sales requires that a sales professional builds and cultivates relationships.  That position plays the role of relationship manager. All other relationships pivot on the relationship that the sales professional generates.  For those who have sold for years, you know all of this.  Much of this post is for our younger sales professionals.

As relationship manager, it is obvious that each relationship will be different, and will vary in depth.  That is the way relationships work in business and in personal life.  We all believe that we evaluate our relationships carefully, yet that evaluation comes with our own judgmental biases and perspectives.

The comfort of a relationship can lead us to speak and act in ways that are too casual.  I am speaking of the usage of slang and colloquial terms and phrases in your business relationships, as well as on the job in your own workplace.

Your Customer

If you are a Black sales professional, it is most likely that your customer and you coworkers come from a totally different background than you.  Life experiences build perceptions (Remember the 3Ps, Perceptions, Preference,  Prejudice and Your Customer – Black Sales Journal 12/27) which one carries until they are ready to give them up.  The danger of slang in a business relationship is that you do know when a word or phrase validates a perception that a buyer might have.

This does not mean that you cannot say all slang, yet slang that is culturally significant when you are still in the relationship building stage could be unacceptable.  I will admit to my guilt in using culturally biased slang with some customers.  Usually it was long, well developed relationships where I exercised that ‘privilege’.  The length of some of those relationships was decades, and I was well familiar with their views, and the customer with mine.  I was lucky, and still probably should have been a little more antiseptic.

Is This a Big Issue?

I don’t think this is a big issue, yet for some of our emerging talent, it should be heard.  Forming relationships is hard work.  You need consistency and some personal protocol.  This is one of those things that must be remembered.

We all have a way of feeling comfort.  It can be a review of your relationship with a customer, or having the strength of a relationship confirmed by a new large order.  If you are wrong in your level of comfort you might seem crass, or you might spark something that chips away at a relationship.

Culturally biased slang includes language that in the Black community would not necessarily be offensive, yet we are not often selling to the Black community.  Even when we are, we want to have a solid idea of who our customer is, and what our boundaries are.  I suggest that it is easier to be in a business mode, and not take the risks unless you are certain of your customer and your relationship.

Your Work Environment

The work environment is a territory that you will know better than your customer.  Even in this territory, you should recognize the limitations that you should impose on yourself.  The workplace should always be considered “foreign” territory.  A familiar place for doing what you do to earn money, and make a career, yet a place that quite often has a set of rules that you have become comfortable with, even if your coworkers are barely comfortable with you.

None of this is bad at all.  Being at work is earning a living.  I had the fortune of working at a place that accepted my cultural differences and allowed me to grow.  All places don’t offer that haven, so your judgment is important here.

I was not the first Black sales professional that worked there, yet I was their first Black sales manager.  By the time I worked in that role, there were things that I said that I wish I could have taken back.  I learned on the job, and learned the hard way.  We all will not work for a solid and forgiving organization.

If you follow the same rules that you should use with customers at your job, you will never lose.  It will be easy to remember, and you will not turn anyone off.  Remember, taking back things you have uttered is like trying to “put toothpaste back in the tube.”

A Simple Example

Many years ago I was on a sales call with a sales professional who the customer told some difficult news, to which he uttered “That Sucks!” Think about that comment, and apply it to business relationships 12 years ago when it was even more sensitized.  The response from the customer was a face that I interpreted as being taken aback.

Now, quite frankly, there were many words that could have been used there, yet the one that came to mind did not sit well with the buyer, who was an older female.  When we left the call and were in the parking lot, I coached that this was not an appropriate comment.  I believe it was for laughs to a degree as there were several people in the room, yet that only means that there could have been several people offended (I don’t believe there were, yet our buyer appeared to be).

I believe that the sales rep took it to heart and appeared very professional in other calls.  I also believe that he apologized to the buyer who quickly stated that it “was fine.”  Fact is that it should not have been done.

How About Profanity?

I once had a manager who could use profanity, and no one ever seemed bothered by it.  Now, I don’t know if they were, as I was not polling, yet there were never any repercussions.  He was well accepted, and had a way about how he did it that desensitized.  I never felt I would have been that blessed.

The fact is that Black professionals should be careful about using profanity for more reasons than I could list in this journal.  It is easier to keep it clean, and be expressive and emphatic.  I believe there is no place for it in our day-to-day public image with the customer or employer.

Remember to always be the consummate professional.

We welcome your comments

We have talked on many occasions about being an effective listener.  Most sales professionals recognize the need to do it, yet today we will get basic about how it is done.  Even if you consider yourself an effective listener, there will be something in here for you.

When it comes to your customers, there is no code that cannot be decoded by attentive listening.  Remember, as we have said before, you are the expert in your organization on each of your accounts, to truly understand them, you must listen more than talk, and to listening at its best does require you deftly monitor the conversation.

Good listeners understand, interpret, and evaluate, but they also do a couple of other things better than others.  They monitor the communication by repeating or reflecting verbally what the speaker is saying.  If their understanding is wrong, the situation is rectified by that activity.

Good listening is important because your accounts can tell when you are absorbed in their stories and explanations, but also can detect when you are anxiously looking for that moment to jump in commandeer the conversation with “your two cents worth.”

We all know people who are good listeners.  They are patient, considerate, and understand your objective by the time you finish communicating.  They ask relevant questions which help them to respond and comply with your needs.

How important is it?

Listening is one of the most important parts of the sales process. What your accounts tell you is very important.  What they don’t tell you may even more important.  If a customer does not believe you are listening they will not go to the effort to clarify and expound.  You engage a sales professional to be a solution to your problems, not compete with you for “airtime”.

When in conversation many sales professionals can be distracted.  Much of this distraction can be from contemplating their next comment, or just anticipating the next action.  If you are ever in this situation fight it off.  An engaged sales professional pays attention as well as listens.

The basic steps to listening are:

• You must hear the speaker.
• You must understand the message.  (Comprehension)
• You are allowed to judge the message (Believability)

Some Important Tips

• Give your full attention to the speaker. Look him/her directly in the eye and demonstrate your understanding by your gestures as well as your responses.
• Let the speaker complete the points before you break in to speak.
• Look aware and attentive.  If you cannot keep your mind in the room, it will be noticeable.  Daydreaming, even if the speaker is boring, is forbidden.
• Note the expression and gestures. These are indicators of intensity and emotion.  Note the exuberance or the frustration, key in on areas that cause angst and provide clarity and solutions.
• Make sure you know of the message.  Ask questions as is necessary to assure this.  Once this meeting is over, it will be a travesty to walk away confused about the message, or the next actions.
• Record the main issues/ideas from the message. Pen and paper is the preferred method.  Your ability to reduce the key points to writing will allow you to recap the concerns and summarize the actions with aplomb.  You will appear a true professional when you summarize and give next steps.
• Structure your questions to repeat and reflect on what is being said.  For example “I understand that the timing of delivery is important, can you give me the time parameters that we must meet.”

What Went Wrong in this Example?

I once worked with sales professional who was strong in many ways, yet a marginal listener.  His listening ability was hampered by his desire to think ahead in everything constantly.  He was charming to customers and extremely intelligent, and these two traits covered the mistakes made by marginal listening.

He was meeting with a prominent customer when the customer made it real clear that all transactions for over $200,000 had to go to his board of directors for a final decision.  This type of comment is important and is notable, as the buyer was giving a “qualification”.  He stated that he liked our product, and our price, and would give his endorsement, yet he was not the final decision maker.

The sales professional did not hear it that way.  He heard the buyer’s acceptance, and saw dollar signs.  Not listening for the buyer to admit that he did not have the power to make the final call.

The buyer called back and indicated that we were a better organization, but priced too high and needed to do some price adjustment.  The sales exec went into action and got the price adjusted and the buyer said, “This should do it!”  The sales rep “banked” the sale processed the paperwork, requested services and so forth.

When the buyer called the next day and said that the board of directors did not agree with his decision, the sales exec was aghast.  Everything had to be undone, and his credibility was damaged.  When he and I talked about the decision making process it was obvious that he missed the fact that the board was going to review this major purchase.

The Remedy?

Obviously if the sales professional was a stronger listener I would not be able to use this as an example.

Additionally,

• Recapping the major points about the decision making process would have avoided the embarrassment.
• Following the rules on “giving full attention” probably would have helped.
• Lastly, asking questions would have helped.  Know the “rules” and the process, and be clear about next steps.

I think it was a good lesson, albeit a difficult one.  Don’t miss the point!  There is more to listening than meets the ear.

We look forward to your comments.