A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Transformational Vocabulary to Change Your Life and now I’m going to write one on Transformational Vocabulary to Change Your Business
You see, the language we use determines our results as it affects the way we approach our actions.
Is it really possible to change your entire life with just a few simple changes to your everyday vocabulary?
During my studies of business, I have constantly challenged myself to adapt the use of vocabulary to a language pattern that changes my approach to business activities. This of course helps me to achieve my bigger desires.
#1 – Customer ==> Client
What might seem like a word that means the same thing actually is a word that means something totally different.
The difference is that customer is transactional and client is relational.
For example, Walmart, Asda or Tesco have customers as their relationship with the people who purchase from them are at a transactional level. The customer simply parts with their cash in exchange for the commodities that these companies sell. Of course, you might argue that nowadays, these companies have ventured into selling insurance and other suchlike products which could make the exchange of value more relational in nature.
In contrast to this, services like accountants, lawyers and doctors are ones that are more relational in nature. Accountants, lawyers and doctors have a fiduciary responsibility for their clients as they’re entrusted to act in the best interests of their client.
Incidentally here are a few dictionary definitions lifted directly from the Oxford dictionary that may assist your understanding:
Client: Person using the services of a professional person or organisation
Customer: Person who buys goods or services from a shop or business
Fiduciary: Involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary
#2 – Cost Plus Markup ==> Lifetime Value
This is essentially the difference between how someone in the accounting department would think of a business transaction against how someone in the marketing department would.
The person with a financial viewpoint will think of a transaction in terms of: Revenue – Fixed Costs – Variable Costs = Gross Profit
The person with a marketer mindset will think of a transaction in terms of cost per acquisition (CPA) and lifetime value (LTV) of the client which will then enable them to understand their return on investment (ROI) for the campaign.
The marketer mindset is often willing to take the short-term “hit” on their profit margins if they know that there is likely to be good potential for an increased lifetime value. This is why companies like Hewlett Packard and Epson are willing to sell their printers at such a ridiculously low price. They know that customers will need to buy cartridges for their printers for the lifetime of their printers and cartridges really do have significant profit margins on them.
The financial viewpoint takes a short term outlook and the marketer viewpoint takes a longer term outlook. The moment a company moves from a private company to a public company is often the point where a business takes a financial viewpoint instead of a marketing viewpoint. This is because the public company is accountable to shareholders and need to produce results each quarter so City Analysts are confident about the company’s stock and therefore appears to be a good investment for investment funds to plough their capital into.
#3 – Product ==> Promise
It’s worth remembering that when you’re selling any product/service, you’re not really selling the product/service itself. Your customer/client isn’t buying the product/service – they’re buying the outcome or the ‘promise’ that the product/service provides.
When someone buys a car, they’re not really buying it because it is a car but because they need to get around from A to B (obvious functional/logical reasons) and perhaps they want to arrive in style and comfort with the sound of a powerful engine (emotional reasons).
#4 – Sell ==> Offer
Not many people have the mindset where they want to be sold to, however everyone likes to receive an offer of sorts, even if they then subsequently turn down the offer. Many people switch off when they realise that they’re engaged in a potential sales scenario. Ever received a sales call at home and did whatever you could to get rid of them as quickly as possible?
Rather than positioning your promotional materials as sales pages, change your prospect’s outlook on them by positioning them as offers.
People don’t like to be sold to but they love to buy!
#5 – Features ==> Benefits
OK, this one really is sales training 101, but it’s so important.
People buy benefits not features.
People don’t buy a laptop because it has a 2.2 Ghz quad-core Intel i7 Processor, 750GB HDD, 4GB RAM and a 15.4″ LED backlit screen.
I hear some of you right now saying, “I do.”
People buy these features because of the benefits that they deliver.
For example:
- A faster processor means faster computational speed therefore a better user experience.
- The 750 GB HDD gives plenty of storage space for your media.
- The 4GB of RAM helps the user to run many applications simultaneously without suffering from poor performance.
- The high resolution 15.4″ LED backlit screen gives the user a good graphical user interface to work with which ultimately results in a good user experience.
Sometimes the user may understand the benefits so implicitly that it seems as though they’re buying the features but they really are buying the benefits that the product/service offers once the features have been translated into their benefits.
As I once heard from Dan Kennedy:
People don’t buy the drill, they buy the hole.
To Your Online Success,
The Profit Share
The mutt's nuts or the dog's drivel? I double dare you to leave a comment! :-)
Hi, Wayne!
Interesting points presented here. I especially like when you noted that people do not like being sold to, but they like to buy.
I also enjoyed your explanation on customer and client relations. Adapting the use of vocabulary for better results in business is important-of course, many can’t do it easily as English is not their primary language (I am such case, as well). However, this shouldn’t stop me from trying, but it should actually inspire me to get better with words and become even more efficient.
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Hi Kristina,
Welcome to my blog. :)
I hope you do feel suitably inspired to get better with your use of language. ;)
Wayne Lambert invites you to read Transformational Vocabulary to Change Your Life
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for this new terminologies. Choosing the right words are one way to attract and compel your followers to purchase your products. Some people might find this absurd but it’s not. It’s a great way to increase sales and generate traffic.
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Hi Andrew,
Welcome back. :-)
Yes, you can transform both your marketing vocabulary to the language of your prospect/client to increase conversions.
You can also change your own self-talk so you think of your prospects/clients differently.
Wayne Lambert invites you to read Transformational Vocabulary to Change Your Business
Good transformational vocabulary to change our business. Thank you for sharing incredibly valuable information. We need more writing like this on an issue which has so many different opinions. I’ve never been to this site before but I just bookmarked it so that I can keep coming back.
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Thanks for the interesting blog.
Nicely written post, I will definitely start focusing more on the vocabulary that I use. I’m glad that you recommend Client over Customer because I always use Client.
The power of denotation/connotation in action. Great post. Very practical and helpful.
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These transformational vocabulary you’ve shared will give a big help and transformation to every business and owners. This gives a big help in understanding on the words that should be use in their business.
Pretty nice post terms .Selecting accurate language is one way to magnetize and force your supporters to obtain your products. I will absolutely begin focusing more on the vocabulary
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Hello Wayne. This is an excellent post. I have been working on including this type of vocabulary into my life – both at work and at home and can see the results. It completely transforms one’s mindset and behavior. I’m a big Abraham Hicks fan. Thanks for sharing this great post. :-)
The last one (people don’t buy features, they buy benefits) is very insightful. It certainly presents a new way of looking at my clients.
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A good business venture starts with a good idea. A good idea doesn’t need to be totally new, but it has to be different or better than existing product or service offering and offered at good value to make your venture competitive. It has to be innovative, relevant to consumers’ needs, affordable, and of course, profitable.
Vocabulary is so important at every level–but especially in business. My favorite was clients versus customers; it definitely makes a difference. I think it’s also important, though, to note that you have to choose the right word to be clear–sometimes features is a better word than benefits, though admittedly the two are often interchangeable.
“People buy benefits not features.”
Features are the characteristics of what someone is selling while benefits are what those features can do for you. People buy for benefits like they can save money or find comfort from the products/services.
Clients and customers are very important to our business. Without them our business is nothing. We need to give importance to our relationships between our customers and our clients so that we will know what they want and our business will also benefit from it.
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Hi very interesting. When you think about it. It is not only the difference in meanings of similar words but how different people interpret the same word or phrase for that matter. So,getting it right is very important. Otherwise things will go wrong before you have even started.
Thanks lee
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Katy said it right. Clients are maybe the most important thing in a business. If you don’t have clients or you blast them away, your business will fail!
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Sometimes I think in my industry we lose sight of customers/clients dynamic. Salespeople in general in today’s society are less concerned about the needs of their customers and more concerned with the size of their commission check. Take care of your customers and or clients and they’ll take care of you.
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In business, you really have to be sure that you market what you client whats and needs. In this way, you can attract the right customer and keeps you customer happy.
Great post detailing the difference a customer and client.Words are powerful, and I believe that a thousand percent..When ever someone ask me “how are you,” I always respond with one word: Better..The return reaction is always shock or surprise or they’ll follow up with “where you sick”..They are so alien to that response that it drives curiosity…Try it on your next social interaction
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Hey Wayne, I just recently found your post. This is truly a unique concept for me. Reading along your points, I felt like you have got the secret how to sell things to people which is very important technique to lure the customers.
Btw, here comes your new visitor.. Keep updating the blog often. :)
Hi Wayne, Such a wonderful post you have wrote. Which explains a good relationship along with the business terminology. It gives a depth of clarity on that ways. Thanks to share this post.
If you satisfy your clients then there is a bigger chance to have a successful business and that is proven already.
Very useful post about communicating in the business industry…especially marketing and convincing someone physically or online.