senator

Director of Sales and Marketing

Where do we stand on doubt words?

Some people say doubt words make it seem like you're not confident. Others say doubt words make you seem more human and less assumptive. I have an opinion on this, but would like to hear what others think.

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antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Give me some examples of what doubt words look like for you.

senator

Catalyst

Director of Sales and Marketing

A big one that comes to mind is “this might help with ___” instead of “this will help you with ____”

senator

Catalyst

Director of Sales and Marketing

Also “I think” instead of making a statement of fact

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

ok great clarification.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Absolutely, that is a great example. To answer your question then, yes that kills your credibility and trust as the "advisor or expert" with the prospect.

senator

Catalyst

Director of Sales and Marketing

Sorry if I’m being dense. You’re saying that phrases like “I think” and “it might” will kill your credibility?

Also, is does it depend on the situation? For example, I normally use these phrases more in cold emails because they go to more people and I don’t want to make bold assumptions that aren’t 100% accurate. In a call, I’m generally more sure.

The reason I ask is because I recently received a sales email that said “I know you have this problem” and it made me so triggered

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

There are ways to word things that can get the same point across. And yes, it can be situational. You probably got triggered because it was true to an extent.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Well, when you're pitching the actual solution, you want to use strong words - no equivocation.

But until you know a prospect or company's specific pain points, I wouldn't use strong words to define their possible issues.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i think if you are going to say "this MIGHT_____" then you need to ask a clarifying question.

for example: if you are going to ask "this might help the HR team track PTO better"

then you need to ask more about how they track PTO, so then you can say: "since you track PTO by doing X Y Z, this will really help you because we do ABC instead"

I think that packs a WAY bigger punch and makes you sounds way more knowledgable

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

Agree.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

No might. Go for the kill.

punishedlad

Tycoon

🧙‍♂️

I'll usually avoid them and talk about how we *do* help other folks in their industry. Focusing on current success stories and framing it on how we can do that same thing for them.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

No doubt words, no weasel words. Own your shit.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Doubt words help you look less salesy. Especially with all the guarantees of lower TCO or saved time. It allows a true discover if you are a fit. It creates a realistic conversation because the product might not be the best fit

WhoDey

Opinionated

VP of Sales

It's possible to avoid doubt words, yet still speak in a human unassuming way. I agree that doubt words express a lack of confidence.

activity

Politicker

VP, Business Development

When making statements of fact, sometimes reps have gotten into trouble when their "fact" isn't really a fact. Leaving it open ended sometimes allows for more impactful dialogue. Both types of communication are needed, it just depends on the situation.

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senator

Where do we stand on doubt words?

16 comments

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