The Surprising Impacts of Jargon & Idioms On Your Sales Efforts

There are two major ways that jargon and idioms hurt your sales efforts. I’ll start with the common one, and then move on to one that is less discussed in sales arenas.

The first is simple. Jargon and idioms risk confusing prospects. Recently, during some sales training, my audience nodded their heads in agreement, but it was clear that I had confused them. So why would they smile and nod?

People don’t want to look bad.

Prospects may not tell you that they’re confused because they don’t want to look foolish. It’s self-preservation. They will revert to social niceties of smiling and nodding despite missing important details.

Part of creating a safe environment for your prospects is to speak in simple and plain language. It’s easy to default to jargon, idioms, and acronyms specific to your company. For example, a salesperson might say, “So, the ETK really resonates with the c-suite as it allows them to increase ROI, and keep the wheels on the bus.”

A prospect may not remember the acronym ETK, and in certain parts of the world “ROI,” “resonate,” “c-suite,” and “wheels on the bus” are not as common. Thus, idioms and jargon can make prospects uneasy.

A clearer way to state the above might be: “Business leaders appreciate the Elevator Transition Kit (ETK) because it lowers costs and keeps people safe.”

Words matter. Jargon and idioms risk making your prospects feel uncomfortable. They won’t feel safe with you. If they do not feel safe, your deal is at risk.

Now, on to the idea that is less discussed in sales.

Jargon hides our lack of understanding.

The use of jargon reveals that you may struggle explaining to prospects how you can best help them. You may not have been encouraged to think deeply about your services in order to make it clear and simple. Put another way, if prospects typically only tell us surface level pain, Jargon is its counter part – it’s the surface level solution.

In sales, we of course want to sound competent, professional, and well-informed. However, jargon does not accomplish this. In fact, jargon is the opposite of understanding according to Richard Feynman, founder of The Feynman Technique.

Instead, Feynman argues, you should be able to explain your idea (or sales pitch) to a twelve-year-old. If you can’t, i.e., the twelve-year-old is confused, you need to refine your message.

If you’re using a lot of jargon or idioms you sacrifice simplicity and clarity. Simple and clear is better for your sales. The good news is that if you spend some time reflecting on how you solve problems for your customers, you’ll be able to relay your ideas with clarity and simplicity.

Here’s three steps to help you that I adapted from Feynman’s system (thanks to Shane Parrish for introducing me to Feynman):

1. Describe how you solve your customer’s problem
2. Tell it to a teenager. Do they understand it? If yes, great! If no…
3. Refine your message until they do

Ultimately, this is about knowing your audience, keeping it simple, and being clear.

I hope this helps.

PS - I’m finishing up a book on sales. It’s different than traditional sales books as it is geared toward those who may not be crazy about selling. Visit FeelGoodAboutSelling.com