"Obviously, Pal...": Stop the Irritators - Watch What You Say, When You’re Selling!

We all have irritators – things we say without realising. You may know what you’re talking about but you’re not thinking about how you come across, and as such you will pepper your discussion with verbal habits that are really annoying. 

‘Obviously’ is the most common, followed by ‘basically’. How patronising when you think about it! ‘The point is...’, ‘in other words...’, ‘at the end of the day...’ – there are so many others, all highlighted in this episode. You know? It’s like… really important. Discover the psychological reasons behind these habits, such as the fear of silence and the compulsive need to keep talking, and learn practical techniques to speak more effectively and make a lasting impression on your clients.
 
In the latter half of this episode, we tackle the broader issue of professional communication irritators, particularly industry-specific jargon that can leave your audience confused and alienated. Imagine how much more effective your conversations could be without these common pitfalls. By actively listening and engaging in open discussions with colleagues about these habits, you can significantly enhance your communication skills. Join us for practical advice and strategies to elevate your sales conversations and build stronger relationships with clients, setting you on the path to success.

If you have an ‘obviously’ merchant in your team, then how do you deal with that? 

To find out more about our work and to see what we could do to help your organisation, visit www.realitytraining.com.

Transcript

Reducing Irritators in Sales Conversations

Speaker 1 0:00

So it's 700 pound and it's like really good , and you know you kind of want to do this . So I think if you have it do you know what I mean ? It's obviously basically great , and when I was looking at this for you , I literally couldn't believe it . So , mate , why don't you think about , you know , having it sweetheart ?

Speaker 2 0:26

okay , uh , makes sense , um , yeah , no , I think um , I think we're going to leave it oh , I mean at the end of the day .

Speaker 1 0:37

Why ?

Speaker 2 0:38

why ?

Speaker 1 0:39

because at the end of the day , as you say , you are just full of flaming irritators so , ladies , gentlemen , welcome to the Reality of Sales training , and today we're focusing on irritators and habit language . This is a subject that we've been covering for years in our training and if you listen to what we just went through , there were loads of really irritating words there that are used all day long , every day , by millions of people all over the world selling stuff , and we're going to talk a little bit about some of them , because they are called irritators for a reason . They are very , very capable of irritating your customers to the point where they decide I'm not going to buy from this person .

Speaker 2 1:44

Jeremy , so a salesperson has got to a position where they know their product or service so well , they're less inspired , so they just fill their sentences with language . That is not powerful , it's not adding any value , it's elongating sentences by saying things like well , basically , at the end of the day , you plug it in and it's going to work . First time it's like 100% , reliable , 100% . So you will have irritators in your organization . If you're listening to this and you manage a team , you'll have a number of individuals who have their own irritator . I used to have one where I'd explain things twice . I'd go well , it does this and it does this . In other words , it does this and it does this .

Speaker 2 2:32

And Bob used to tell me this , but I didn't believe it till Elmer Wheeler wrote about the irritator of . In other words , why say things twice ? Basically , obviously , bob has one . He says the point is and the point is , and he does this all the time . The point is , the point is Is that it Just that point ? So , obviously , basically , at the end of the day , in a nutshell , when else have you held a nutshell and anything has got inside it other than the rest of the ?

Speaker 1 3:01

nut . So this is an interesting historical point . The terms like in a nutshell come from Shakespeare . It was first used in Hamlet in 1603 . And we , the English-speaking people of the world , have been using it ever since . I don't think anybody knows what it means . I think it means in short . So , to be brief , it means this we say in a nutshell it's this .

Speaker 2 3:32

How odd that we would use that . At the end of the day , we're going to ?

Speaker 1 3:33

What do you mean at the end of the day ? What are you talking about ? It's half past four now , I know .

Speaker 2 3:35

You're talking , yeah , and we're nearly there . Why do you have to say , at the end of the day , why do you have to use any of these irritators , this so ? The science tells us that you do this for a couple of reasons . One you're bored and you're unenthused .

Speaker 2 3:50

but the second thing is you don't stop talking and take a breath yeah it's the same as people who pepper their sentences with um , they're just not breathing , they're just relying on short nasal breaths to get through , rather than actually breathing and thinking and saying what it does is it does this and that's how it helps you . Instead , they go well , obviously , what it does is it , does this and basically that's how it helps you , and you're just extending your phrasing with cack .

Speaker 1 4:22

There's two things . I think it comes from fear . So you're afraid of silence , an awkward silence . So you'll say anything to fill that gap , like obviously or basically or literally , which is ridiculous . So you're afraid of silence . You're also afraid of letting the other person in to say they don't want what it is you're trying to sell . So you think , as long as I keep talking , if I throw enough mud at the wall , some of it will stick . So in between , your little sound bites of reasons why somebody should buy you , pepper it with you knows like is the most common one at the moment . So it's like he was , like she was like it was like good , and I know that's the parlance of our time . But if you say it 50 times , that's going to get on someone's nerves , no doubt about it . I hear a lot of this Do you know what I mean ? Oh , do I look that thick that you need to ask me if I know what you mean ? Does that make sense , Do I ?

Speaker 2 5:20

look like no . I'm thick and I'm unable to comprehend .

Speaker 1 5:23

I'm so unintelligent , that I don't get that . Will you bear with me ? Bear with me . Bear with me , that means shut up and don't say anything . That's another way of saying that Is your sales team delivering . If they could do better , then talk to Reality Training Selling certainty for over 20 years at realitytrainingcom .

Speaker 1 5:57

I heard one the other day we've talked about before , but it's a beauty . A guy was talking to a customer on the phone and he said can we just pop a pin in that for a moment ? Oh yeah . So the customer was complaining and he was saying can we just pop a pin in that for a moment ? Oh yeah . So the customer was complaining and he was saying can we just pop a pin in that , ie , can you shut up about that ? And I'd say something else . That's so rude and he's obviously used to saying that to customers and nobody's picked him up on it . I mean , that's unbelievable .

Speaker 1 6:20

So there are so many of these things . Now , we are all capable of it , of course , but one of the best things you could do as a team leader , sales manager , is to listen out for these and point it out to people . If you hear somebody on the phone or witness somebody in a meeting and they use something like obviously 20 times . The kindest thing you can do is take them to one side and say , look , you're good , but you are an obviously merchant and you need to think about why you say obviously so much , because after a while it's grating , it really is . Now , if you are a salesperson who is on the phone all day long , then you are going to have plenty of these and , what's more , you will hear people around you saying things that you will pick up and think , oh , that sounds good , I'll use that . So you could have a whole team of people using really annoying irritators all day long and wonder why their performance is low . That's because they're putting off half the customers .

Speaker 2 7:19

You just sound like a salesperson . You sound this sort of low level desperation to just continue talking . So this is a short episode . Many of these episodes are . We want you to take stock of your irritators . What are you saying that is taking the sale away from you ? You know , elmer Wheeler , who we talked about in the first two episodes , said the customer leaves you mentally if not physically , and irritators are another example of that .

Speaker 1 7:47

Thanks , mate . I mean , that's the other thing you know using mate , or ?

Speaker 2 7:51

mate or love , or darling , or sweetheart pal do you know , my least favorite chap some people hello chap . Yeah , I'm getting that quite a bit . Oh , you're someone's like are you ? Yeah , hello , chap .

Speaker 1 8:06

Hello chap , now let's give you a really simple bit of training . Who decides if it's okay to call someone mate , pal , whatever ? Okay , it's generally the customer . But actually aren't you much better off just calling them by their name ? Totally Just call them by their name , do you mind if I call you Jeremy ? Fine . Now , if you say that , don't then irritate the hell out of Jeremy by using it 50 times . So , jeremy , the thing is , jeremy , what you've got here , jeremy , is a really , really good product , jeremy and Jeremy . What I want you to do , jeremy , is to think about buying it , jeremy , and sending me a check for it , jeremy . How does that sound , jeremy ?

Eliminating Communication Habits for Success

Speaker 1 8:43

There's a few presenters on television , not presenters , sorry , the interviewees who go back and say , well , claire , please , you've asked me that question , which means well , claire , I don't like you . Why have you asked me that question ? No , no . And it also means will you please shut up , claire . But anyway , I think it's important for people to understand that irritators are single words , they are expressions , they are terminology that you might use in your industry . That's . Another thing that people can't bear is when you chuck out oh , it's the FS2 . Well , I don't know what you're talking about . So you know , we throw things out there as if people understand what it means and they're embarrassed to say that they don't Was the FS2 two iterations behind HST .

Speaker 1 9:29

It was the early draft plans of the HST . No one's got any idea . So our challenge to you is to listen to yourself , listen to the things you say . What do you say that could be construed as an irritator or bad habit language that you throw out there , thinking it sounds great , but actually it is actually limiting your performance . So have a think about irritators , habit language , and have a discussion with your colleagues and see what theirs are , because it's a good thing to try and bring them down significantly . You can probably get rid of half and that's going to make a massive difference .

Speaker 2 10:03

It really is . Point them out and cut them out . We'll see you on the next episode of the . Reality is Sales Training .