Words That Won’t Do Your MSP Business Any Favors
Your MSP business should focus on words that don’t lend your operation toward sales conversion. Avoid these words, these turns of phrase, and these collateral communication faux pas:
- “Allow me to show you” or “let me show you”
- “We provide” or “our services provide you”
- “Discount”
- “Roadmap”
- “Contract”
- “We offer this free trial”
- “Payment”
- The name of your organization
Allow Me to Show You/Let Me Show You
Your MSP business isn’t educational. You’re in the business of service provision, sales and tech facilitation. When you say, “Let me show you”, that takes a top-down perspective that sort of diminishes the importance of your prospective client. They’re not going to like that, generally.
“We Provide” or “Our Services Provide You”
The term “provide” in the context of a sales meeting is usually an indicator of a sales pitch. The client understands, perhaps even subconsciously, that you’re about to try and sell them products or services. Accordingly, you can expect them to launch subconscious walls against your “provisions” which may result in a non-conversion.
“Discount”
The term “discount” either indicates a lack of quality, desperation in your business, or a technique designed to twist a client’s arm into converting to your products or services. It should be a last resort, not the first foray into conversion. Additionally, if you do want to offer such a thing, you can use different terminology to do so, such as: “Well, it is possible we could reduce the monthly rate for a limited time.”
“Roadmap”
A roadmap is presumptive. It assumes you’ll make it to your destination on paper, but it doesn’t take into account factors which may influence that transit. You don’t want to describe items of service as on the “roadmap” of your conventional service provision.
“Contract”
Contracts are binding. Nobody wants to be stuck in something before they’ve even paid for it or experienced the services available. Wait until you’ve got them essentially “sold”, then bring out a “service agreement” for them to sign. Don’t start talking contracts if you can at all avoid it.
“We Offer This Free Trial”
A free trial, like a “discount” or something you “provide”, indicates a sales pitch of some variety, or at the very least, your aim toward converting the client. This isn’t desirable for prospects and could push them away from you. Instead of “free trial”, you may say something like: “Well, we can give you that feature for no cost over ‘X’ period of time.”
“Payment”
You don’t want to mention payment or other cost-associated words until after closure. You might mention “amounts”, but don’t mention a word which already assumes your potential client is going to pay you.
The Name of Your Organization
Your name simply does not matter until you’ve already proven how valuable you can be to your potential client. So don’t go around saying things like “at ‘x’ company, we offer such-and-such or so-and-so”; this kind of language just sounds pretentious.
Good Words, Not Bad Words
Your MSP business should strive to use good sales language, not that which will drive clients away. Words like “imagine”, “successful”, and “fair” are better than “think about”, “free trial”, and “we provide”. Identify where you’re missing the mark, and you’ll optimize your selling technique.
