Acronyms, industry buzz-words, technical jargon-we’ve all used them at one point or another in our jobs. But if you’ve been using them when you’re first getting to know your prospect, you may have made a big mistake.
As Sandler Training’s Jody Williamson explains in the video above, product knowledge used at the wrong time can be intimidating. Every decent sales professional should know their product and their industry top-to-bottom, inside and out. However, it is overwhelming for the prospect if you make it your objective to show off just how knowledgeable you are-especially if you do it when you are first becoming acquainted with the prospect and their business. Once the prospect becomes uncomfortable or feels like they’re simply a spectator to a lecture they don’t understand, you run the risk of forming an association of confusion and discomfort with you and your product/service.
It is up to you to pick up on cues from the prospect to see what level of detail is most comfortable for them, and a safe strategy is to move from general points to more specific details. If you simply try to “show off” your expertise, the prospect may “show off” the door to their office.
