I talk a lot about knowing who your target markets are and addressing their pain points. In marketing, you may be using a broad brush to paint the picture of your business and offerings to attract qualified leads.  But as you get further along in a sales process, you start dealing with a specific individual.  This individual has a particular personality and particular priorities.  If you want to hook this person as a new paying customer, you need to start speaking your customer’s language.

If you really listen to your prospects, one of the things you will notice is the keywords they use.  Their keywords might not be general terms of your target market.  The keywords a customer uses are cues about what is most important to them.  You want to use those same keywords to show you are speaking your customer’s language.

The keywords a customer uses are cues about what is most important to them. #sales #business Share on X

In conversation with your prospect, look for the words they repeat a few times.  Look for the words they emphasize.  Look for what they mention first.  Make note of those words, because those words mean something. Your prospect is conveying a message to you that those keywords are the top-of-mind objectives in their decision making process.

In conversation with your prospect, look for the words they repeat a few times. #salestip #smb Share on X

If you have been listening and still don’t know what the keywords are, go ahead and ask!  Ask them directly what their priorities are, what they are looking for, what they need to see to make the decision.  If you ask the question and listen for the answer, it shows that you care about what matters to them.  Plus, you get valuable information.  Once you know the keywords they use, use them back.

If you truly want to be speaking your customer’s language, your customer’s keywords should be the focal point of the conversation.  If you know what matters to your customer, and you start addressing other features and perks that are unrelated, it will actually come across that your offering is not a perfect fit and that you are trying to manipulate a sale.  Just repeating their words back to them will make it seem that you understand their needs.  Explain how your offering stacks up against those keywords to prove that your prospect doesn’t need to look any further to satisfy their pain points.

Your customer's keywords should be the focal point of the conversation. #sales #smallbiz #smb Share on X

If you want your prospect to be most at ease, keep using their language.  If you are used to a different industry term, the process of explaining it might make your prospect bristle.  Instead, appropriate their language into your terminology for this discussion so they feel comfortable and know that you are talking about the same thing.

You always want to relate to your customers.  Once you get into a sales conversation with a prospect, it is especially important to connect one-on-one and show them that they are heard and understood.  If your prospect trusts you and knows that you know what they need, they will be far more likely to buy from you.  Speaking your customer’s language is one quick way to begin establishing the trust you need to move forward in a sale.

 

For more tips on making the perfect pitch during the sales process, click here.