The Sales Dictionary: Translating Clichés For Authentic Connection

Translate this: “Let’s get down to brass tacks and have a dialogue on how we partner with customers on value-adds so you can leverage our bootstrapped, world-class product to take your business to the next level and crush it this quarter.”

Did your eye twitch while reading that, or just ours? While the sentence above was a bit of an exaggeration, it’s not too far off the mark from what many prospects encounter in everyday conversations with salespeople. 

The problem with too many sales cliches 

Though there is some value in speaking through a shared language, too much jargon and sales buzzwords can be a turnoff to your potential customers. Who wants to talk to someone who sounds like a snake-oil salesman? 

According to a Hubspot study, only 3% of buyers trust salespeople. The only professions on the list that rank lower are stockbrokers, politicians, car salesmen, and lobbyists. Yikes. 

How you speak to prospects can play a big role in whether they trust you or not. Using too many cliches can feel forced and inauthentic. You don’t want to add your conversation style to the list of prospect objections to overcome. 

Instead, you can stand out by simply being real. When everyone else is stuffing their conversations with jargon, speaking plainly will set you apart as the one who can help prospects solve real problems. 

We’ve compiled a handy phrasebook for translating sales babble back into something more grounded so you can build those genuine connections. 

Entries in the Sales-English dictionary 

Overused sales terms: 

Ask (noun)
Translation

1.  A request
2. A requirement

At the end of the day
Translation

1. Ultimately
2. Extra fluff to pad out a sentence

Our suggestion: just leave it out. You don’t need this phrase or a replacement for it.

Crushing it (verb)
Translation

1. Performing at an exceptional level
2. Achieving remarkable results
3. Often overused to mean simply “doing fine”

Our suggestion: cut the theatrics and just go for something real people say, like, “doing great.”

Dialogue (noun)
Translation: 

1. Conversation 

Do or die (adjective)
Translation

1. Requires decisive action
2. All-or-nothing
3. Extremely high stakes
4. Life-or-death implications; often used hyperbolically

Our suggestion: sales isn’t life or death (unless you’re selling something like defibrillators). Tone it down to “make or break” or even just “key” or “critical.”

Game-changer (noun)
Translation

1. Something that will dramatically change the current situation
2. A disruptive force 

Our suggestion: instead of the game, talk about how your product or offering will change their specific situation. 

Example: Instead of “This workflow sequencer will be a game-changer for your day-to-day,” say “This workflow sequencer will automate tasks so you don’t have to do them all manually.”

Get down to brass tacks (verb)
Translation

1. To dive into the important, core details
2. Get to the main business at hand

Our suggestion: ditch the metaphor and just say “the important stuff.”

Industry-leading (adjective)
Translation

1. At the forefront or most advanced within a particular industry or market sector
2. Has extensive experience and respect

Our suggestion: no one believes you when you call your product industry-leading unless you’ve got something concrete to back it up. Just leave this out unless you can prove it’s true.

Leverage (verb)
Translation

1. Use. Just say “use.” Please.

Low-hanging fruit (noun)
Translation

1. Quick wins
2. The easiest or most straightforward targets

Our bread and butter (noun)
Translation: 

1. Our main thing/core business
2. Our specialty 
3. What we’re known for

Partner with customers (verb)
Translation

1. Offer a product or service that customers purchase
2. Require either a longer sales cycle or a long-term contract.

Our suggestion: Everyone knows that when you say you partner with customers, you really just mean a business transaction. Be honest and straightforward, and your prospects will appreciate it.  

Ping (verb)
Translation

1. Send a message to
2. Email
3. Follow up

Our suggestion: just use the word for how exactly you’ll contact them. Who says “ping” outside of a work context? No one. 

Run it up the flagpole (verb)
Translation

1. Escalate a decision to a higher authority
2. Seeking input above the current level

Our suggestion: be specific. Say who (or what department) you need to get input from.

Utilize (verb)
Translation

1. Use. It’s a perfectly good word that takes less effort to say. 

World-class (adjective)
Translation

1. High quality compared to peers
2. Fluff word without much concrete meaning

Our suggestion: ditch the filler words like “world-class” that have lost all meaning. Everyone says they’re the best. Prove it, don’t just say it. 

Difficult to understand sales terms:

Best of suite (adjective)
Translation 

1. The most comprehensive, feature-rich, or highest-tier product or service within a suite of solutions.
2. The most advanced option

Bootstrapped (adjective)
Translation

1. Built with little or no external help or investment
2. Scrappy
3. Independent in origin

Product advocate (noun)
Translation

1. Salesperson
2. Someone being paid to promote a product
3. A person whose role is to help customers understand the product
4. An unclear job title that can apply to a lot of different roles and responsibilities

Our suggestion: don’t bother trying to make a job title more palatable by making it hard to interpret. Just say what it is. 

Value add (noun)
Translation

1. A feature of or enhancement to the product that provides additional benefits
2. Anything “extra” that increases a product’s usefulness

Value engineering (verb)
Translation

1. Optimizing a product to reduce costs while maintaining or improving the quality 
2. Reducing costs while preserving or improving function

Sales terms borrowed from other fields: 

Best of breed (adjective)
Translation

1. The highest performing in a particular category
2. Most closely conforming to the ideal standards of its breed

Origin: dog breeding competitions

Our suggestion: in addition to being over-used, this term doesn’t really say much. Everyone says they’re the best, of course. Show your prospects how your product is a cut above the rest instead of using fluff terms.

Boots on the ground (noun)
Translation

1. People who are actively engaged in a particular situation
2. Those dealing with the reality of a situation firsthand 

Origin: military contexts such as deployment

In the trenches (verb)
Translation

1. Being directly involved and immersed in the hardest, most difficult parts of a challenging situation
2. Not insulated from the problems, obstacles, and hard work required to make progress
3. Deep in the uncomfortable realities 

Origin: military (WWI)

Rockstar (noun)
Translation

1. Someone who has achieved widespread fame via their musical ability
2. A top performer who stands out

Our suggestion: unless you’re talking about Jimmi Hendrix or Steven Tyler, use some more real-world terms specific to your field.

Slam dunk (noun)
Translation

1. A basketball shot in which a player jumps up and powerfully throws the ball downward through the basket’s rim.
2. An unmissable, straightforward opportunity
3. An easy win

Origin: sports (basketball)

Wheelhouse (noun)
Translation

1. Specialty/niche
2. An area where your product or service excels

Origin: sports (baseball) 

What to say instead of sales cliches and buzzwords

When you use a lot of cliches and buzzwords, your conversation can become incomprehensible to prospects or come off as insincere. You shouldn’t have to provide prospects with a phrasebook to be understood. 

So instead, just be yourself. Use industry-specific terms when appropriate, but don’t get bogged down in all the sales-isms. Talk like a human being, and you’ll be able to establish a better bond. 

Connect with prospects

Making a sale is all about creating a genuine connection. 94% of consumers report that they’ll stay loyal to brands that are open and honest. If you build the relationship on honest communication right from the start of the sales process, you’re much more likely to gain a satisfied, loyal customer. 

And the faster you create those connections the better. In addition to saying the right things, you have to talk to the right people. 

Finding them can be the hard part, but it doesn’t have to be when you have the right tools. Use a sales intelligence tool like Lusha to find decision-makers in your target market who are ready to have a conversation.

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