Five Words

I view sales seminars, motivational speakers, round-tables, role-playing and other such gimmicks as useless (and usually overpriced) crap. There's a good reason for that: because it's always useless and overpriced crap. The people behind such things are invariably more con-men than salesmen. They are generally miserable failures in actual business, (defined as manufacturing, selling, servicing and maintaining; lecture circuits are not a business). I've found that the true specialties of such people tend to be egomania, credit stealing and Ponzi schemes. Zig Ziglar and William Deming were two excellent examples. Such people create unnecessary froth and churn in the already turbulent corporate environment by convincing less-enlightened managers (that's a nice way of saying idiots) that they possess a Magic Bullet to solve all managerial/sales/production woes. Only $3,000 per head! A bargain, he says! (If you're anything like me, by the way, you'll be gratified to hear that Ziglar finally joined Deming in The Long Dirt Nap about a month ago.)

Anyway, this article is short, insightful, and actually useful -- and you don't have to pay three grand or buy an overpriced, poorly-written book to get at this knowledge. As the author states at the beginning, don't overuse these five "power words" or they'll wind up as corp-speak buzzwords and therefore have exactly the opposite of the effect you're trying to achieve. They can be very influential when applied sparingly and in proper context, however.

Of particular note is the trick of using someone's full, written name. Not as in spam mail, but within formal and informal written correspondence. I've used this before and find it extraordinarily effective in personnel management and project management, as well as in sales. It can be used positively or negatively; the former is preferred, but sometimes it must be the latter if all other recourse has been exhausted. Either way, the key is that other people have to see it. For example, in a multi-recipient email conversation, complimenting someone involved by direct name (preferably with artful subtlety) will go a long way in getting them to do what you wish, whether they are an employee or a potential customer. Everyone likes to look good in front of others. Everyone. Use it to your advantage.