June 25, 2024 • 25 mins
Can the words you choose truly shape your business success? Discover the transformative power of language in our 50th milestone episode of the Designer Within Podcast. I'll unveil how the words you use can either build bridges or create barriers in your professional relationships. Learn how to replace phrases like "cheap" and "budget" with more positive alternatives such as "less expensive" and "investment expectations" to foster confidence and professionalism. This episode is packed with insights on refining your vocabulary to enhance client interactions and elevate your business communication skills.
In this special episode, we also explore the art of choosing positive language, offering practical tips for incorporating solutions-focused phrasing into your daily conversations. Avoiding negative connotations can make a significant difference in how clients perceive your capabilities. Additionally, we delve into the importance of mindful listening, effective communication techniques, and the value of seeking feedback to build trust and rapport with clients. Tune in for personal anecdotes and actionable advice that will help you master the subtleties of client communication and achieve greater professional success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John McClain (00:00):
The words that we use can convey confidence.
They can convey empathy,professionalism, most
importantly, or they canunintentionally and this is
important unintentionally createbarriers and misunderstandings,
which no one wants when they'rerunning a business.
Hey y'all, you're listening tothe Designer Within Podcast,
episode number 50.
(00:20):
I'm John McClain, and welcometo the Designer Within podcast,
the business-minded podcastcreated for creative
entrepreneurs by a creativeentrepreneur that's me.
I know firsthand the challenges, but also the victories that
can come with our careers, andI'm here to sip and spill the
(00:41):
tea with you.
It's time to dive deep withinyourself and redesign your own
business and your life from theinside out.
Together, we will uncoversecrets and share valuable
insights.
So prepare for a transformativeexperience, my friends, because
it's time to unleash thedesigner within.
Hey everybody, welcome back toanother episode of the Designer
(01:03):
Within.
This is big number 50.
5-0.
I cannot believe that I haverecorded 50 different podcast
episodes since we started, sowe're coming up on one year, but
I thought let's stop before weget to one year and celebrate
episode 50.
So that is what this is.
I do want to thank all of youwho have found the podcast,
(01:23):
those of you who have found thepodcast, those of you who have
been here since the beginning.
It means so much to me to knowthat you listen to little old me
in your earbuds on your walk atthe gym, doing your laundry,
doing the dishes, whatever.
Thank you so much for justbeing a part of this podcast.
It really, really does mean theworld to me and I hope that
it's helping you.
I hope that it's helping yougrow.
(01:44):
I hope that it's helping you bea better designer, a better
business person.
Maybe you've learned somethings from me and the guests
along the way that you canactually apply to your business.
So that's the whole purpose ofthis.
As you might know, podcastproduction is lengthy.
It takes some time to puttogether the episodes, to edit
the episodes, all that marketing, so this does not come easy for
(02:06):
anybody.
But I love to carve the time inmy schedule to help everybody
out.
So I just want to thank you forbeing a big part of that.
So on that note, let meofficially welcome you to
episode 50.
Yay, on this episode.
It might be a shorter episode.
I'm not really sure.
I haven't really written toomany things out.
I have some notes, but I wantto talk about words and how
(02:26):
words matter when we are talkingwith a prospective client, a
current client, or even whenwe're talking to our team or
anyone else that we have inrelation to our business.
I just want to talk to youabout how the words that you
choose do matter and words thatI specifically like to avoid
when I'm speaking with clientsand when I'm speaking with
anyone, because I just don'tlike these words.
(02:48):
I don't think they have anybusiness being in the business
vernacular.
So let me explain what thoseare to you, why I don't like
them and how we can maybefinesse them or replace them
with a different word.
We're going to talk about wordsto completely avoid and I'm
going to offer you moreeffective alternative to you
instead.
So, whether you are in thedirect sales to your clients,
(03:10):
whether you are on the customerservice side of helping your
clients out, this really doesexpand and it doesn't really
just pertain to the interiordesign industry, but it
definitely does pertain to us.
But it can also apply to anyindustry, because anyone who is
running a business is in theindustry.
A skill no matter if you wantto admit that or not, I do want
(03:30):
to say effective communicationreally is the cornerstone of any
successful businessrelationship.
The words that we use canconvey confidence.
They can convey empathy,professionalism, most
importantly or they canunintentionally and this is
important unintentionally,because I know a lot of you are
saying things and you don't eventhink of the consequences that
(03:52):
they have, but they canunintentionally create barriers
and misunderstandings which noone wants when they're running a
business.
Today we're going to exploresome common words and phrases,
as I said, that might be doingmore harm than good and provide
you with the alternative to usein your client interaction.
The first word that I loathe andthat I never, ever want to
(04:12):
bring up with a client is theword cheap, and I hate the word
cheap.
Cheap has no place in any salesconversation.
Cheap instantly says somethingto me about the quality of what
I'm receiving, about the qualityof what I'm talking about.
Some people only see it asprice, I see it as low quality
and it's just a very limitingword, it's just a very negative
(04:35):
word.
So if you're showing a mirrorto a client and you can say
here's option A and option B.
Option A is this price, optionB is cheaper.
Instantly that client is goingto think, oh, that's cheaper
quality, that's cheaper made,that's manufactured in a
different way that I'm not goingto like Versus if you just said
option A is this, option B is alesser price but the same
(04:57):
quality.
So just having those twodifferentiation there lets the
person know that this is not acheaply made item, it just costs
less.
So my recommendation to you isto take the word cheap out of
your vocabulary and use lessexpensive, less costly, anything
that pertains directly to theprice of that item, versus
(05:17):
having any sort of connotationto the quality of that item.
Another word that I do not likeis the word budget, and that
word I feel is really ingrainedin interior designers, for
instance.
We always say hey, what is yourbudget?
What budget are you looking at?
To me, budget again has thatconnotation of low quality, low
(05:37):
expectations of it going to last, and I just want to always
remove that word budget.
It just feels.
Again back to the word cheap.
It feels cheap and verylimiting to me.
When someone says what is yourbudget, I much prefer to use the
word investment.
So instead of saying what isyour budget for this project, I
rather would say what is yourinvestment expectations for this
(06:01):
project.
See how that really sort ofchanges the conversation and
lets them know that the moneythat they are spending is going
to have a return on theirinvestment, is going to have an
ROI, versus just saying what isyour budget, budget, budget,
budget, budget is limiting.
Budget says only numbers.
Investment, to me, says thatthe money that they are spending
is going to go towardssomething valuable, it's going
(06:23):
to go long term, versus justonly speaking to the price of
that, whereas the wordinvestment says this is
something that I care aboutenough that I want you to invest
in.
So when you're speaking to aclient and you're asking them do
they have an amount in mind fortheir project?
I find that if you use the wordinvestment in their mind they
go to the fact that, oh, this isan investment in my home, this
(06:46):
is an investment in my family ifit's design that we're speaking
about, and this is just aninvestment in my future.
So always try to use the wordinvestment instead of budget.
I changed that years ago and ithas really made the difference
in the client's perception andalso how my team also sees what
we are presenting to clients aswell.
I just try to take that wordbudget out of every conversation
(07:07):
that I ever have with a client,because it just instantly
lowers the bar.
Another word that now this issmall, but I prefer to use that
and it has helped me is the wordcontract.
So contracts sound very formal,which it is.
I know that the form that theclient is signing is a formal
agreement, but contract to mesounds very one-sided.
(07:28):
It does not sound like there ismutual benefit for both parties
.
Instead of the word contract, Iprefer to use the word
agreement.
So any form of document that Ishow to a client, I always use
the term agreement.
So I say, king, I will sendover your agreement tomorrow.
Have you read your agreement?
Let's set up a time to reviewyour agreement.
Versus, say, here is yourcontract.
I think it disarmed the clientinstantly and they can see the
(07:50):
fact that you are agreeing towork together.
It also says that you arelooking for a cooperative
arrangement.
You're not just looking for aone-sided contract that they are
signing, you're looking for anagreement of both parties, and I
let clients know.
Another word that I use ispartnership.
I use the word partnership alot when I'm speaking with my
clients because I want them toknow that this is a partnership,
(08:13):
that we are working togetherfor a successful outcome, and
part of that is a solidagreement.
That agreement sets thefoundation for the outcome.
So consider using the wordagreement instead of the word
contract when you're speakingwith your client.
This also, by the way, thiscould go into any situation
where you have an agreement thatis necessary.
(08:33):
It could be if you have alicensing deal that you're
pitching.
It could be if you are signinga vendor, anything where there
is a signature of mutual parties.
And again, I'm not an attorney,of course.
I'm just telling you what Ilike to use.
You can choose what you want,but I love the word agreement
because, again, it shows amutual interest in both parties
coming together to agree tosomething.
Another word that I avoid usingin my firm and I've never used
(08:56):
this word since the beginning ofmy firm when I was a
solopreneur was the word I.
I feel like I is very limiting.
It also does not foster thatpartnership that I mentioned
earlier.
It does not say that, oh, thisis a partnership that we're
working toward a common goal foryour project.
It just sounds to me that thereis less collaboration when I
(09:18):
use the word I, also if you useinstead the word we always from
the beginning.
So if you area one-person show.
If you have two people, threepeople, I don't care.
I've always used the term wewhen referring to something
that's going to get done on afine project, because using the
term we shows that you haveother people surrounding you to
(09:38):
help your company, to make itbetter, to help that client, to
make that project better.
Whatever you are servicing thatclient for, by having a team of
people around it just showsthat client that they have more
people in their corner versusjust yourself.
Using the term we also createsa positive perception about your
company that you are a biggeroperation, that you are not just
(09:59):
limiting.
And I can tell you, when youare working with a client who
has a $5 million home, a $6million home, they're going to
feel much more at ease when theyknow that you have more people
working with you and you're notlying.
By the way, you do have otherpeople working with you.
Even if you are the only personsitting in your office, you do
have so many other people onyour side.
(10:20):
You have your vendors, you haveyour trade people, you have
your warehouse delivery, youhave the delivery people.
Anybody else that you'reworking with in your company
creates that we concept, so tryto stop using the word I only
when you're speaking withclients and always use the word
we.
It will give the client a muchmore settled feeling in dealing
(10:40):
with you and working with youand your company and they'll
just feel much more comfortableknowing that you have a team of
people who are helping youaccomplish the goal of making
their project.
Another word that I don't everwant to use is the word problem.
Using the word problem justinstantly send a negative
message out to someone.
When you say that there is aproblem like hold on, there's a
(11:01):
problem here.
No, you need to rephrase thatand to use a word such as
challenge or opportunity and, bythe way, I know this might
sound a little silly to changethe word problem, because we all
know that a problem is aproblem, but it is that client's
perception of how, again,you're going to deal with that.
And if you look at this as justa challenge that you can
(11:22):
overcome versus a problem thatmay or may not be overcome, the
client will feel much more atease in your hand if they know
that this is just a challenge.
You have seen this before.
Let them know that you haveworked through this before.
You have worked through otherchallenges, even if it wasn't
one as specific as that.
But this is just a challengeand you will overcome it and you
(11:42):
can even use the wordopportunity.
We know this is a challenge,but this is also an opportunity
to explore other options.
We see this challenge in notbeing able to move this wall,
but it's also an opportunitythat we can arrange your kitchen
in a different area.
But it also is an opportunitythat we can arrange your kitchen
(12:02):
in a different way to possiblywork even better for your family
.
So just turn that challengeinto a positive solution, into a
opportunity, and a client willfeel much more at ease, versus
if someone just says oh my God,it's a problem, I can't believe
this is happening.
This is a problem, problem,problem.
And as we are designers, weshould also pass this message
(12:23):
along to any tradespeople thatwe're working with, any general
contractors.
Always let them know to avoidusing these words because it can
alarm the client for no reasonwhatsoever.
So replace the word problemwith challenge, for no reason
whatsoever.
So replace the word problemwith challenge and I think
you'll find that thosechallenges and those warmer
problem are overcome and turnedinto opportunity and the client
(12:44):
feels again much more secure inyour hand.
Another word is discount.
I hate the word discount Again,discount has that negative
connotation.
It has that negative meaning.
It's saying, oh, this is adiscounted item, which means
it's probably not as good as aregular price item.
So the word discount allowspeople to take that term, just
like many of the words that I'mmentioning today, and come up
(13:06):
with their own definition to it.
So when you say the worddiscount, you probably instantly
think a discount bin.
I do.
I think a discount bin, adiscount rack at a clothing
store, something that's justcheap, that no one wants anymore
.
No, instead of the worddiscount, I want you to use the
words savings or a special offer, something again that just
relates to the price of it, thatdoesn't relate to the quality
(13:29):
of that.
So, for instance, you can sayyou're actually able to put all
of these fabulous light fixturesin your house because I have a
volume buying power with theclient, so I get a much bigger
savings and I'm able to help youand pass some of those savings
along to you.
So do you see the differenceversus saying this is discounted
, it's cheaper, it's less money,so you're going to spend less
(13:51):
on it.
There's no benefit to thatwhatsoever.
They instantly go to the price.
Oh, there must be somethingwrong with it.
And the whole point of these isthat, again, you don't want to
allow someone to put their ownnegative connotation on a word.
So if you can avoid that wordaltogether and put a more
positive word in there in placeof it, you're going to find that
your client and anyone elsethat you interact with will
(14:12):
react much, much better.
Something else and this issmall, but I don't like the word
unfortunately.
They're instantly let downautomatically.
When you say the wordunfortunately, it sounds as just
exactly what it is there is anunfortunate situation, there is
a less unfortunate situation,and I just really don't ever
want to use the wordunfortunately.
So instead of sayingunfortunately, we can't do that,
(14:34):
you can say something like inmy experience, this has worked
better, and here is what we canoffer you as an alternative
solution.
So do you see the difference inthat when you just take that
mind, shift from sayingunfortunately to rephrasing it
into a positive situation, andit's not lying, you're not
misguiding the client.
You're not misleading theclient.
You are just avoiding again thenegative connotations that come
(14:56):
along with certain words.
So try to avoid the wordunfortunately.
I know it's easy to put that inthere, but if you just rephrase
that into here is anothersolution that we can provide to
you.
You can leave that wordunfortunately out altogether.
Along those same lines is theword difficult.
I don't like the word difficult.
That just sounds like it mightor might not be able to be
(15:17):
accomplished, that you might ormight not be able to overcome it
.
So, instead of difficult, tryto use the word challenging.
That word sounds like you arefacing that challenge, but
you're going to also pair itwith a proactive approach.
So, for instance, instead ofsaying this is super difficult
to do, I don't know that we cando that, instead you can say
(15:38):
this is challenging, yes, but weare ready to handle it.
It is nothing that we haven'tseen before.
This is a challenge that we canovercome, much like another
challenge, and you can bring outan example of a past situation
with a client and let thatcurrent client know this is how
you overcame this otherchallenge and you're avoiding
(16:03):
that work difficult andreplacing it with a challenge
that can be overcome.
And this is why I tell you alltry to have some stories in the
recesses of your mind.
I always think about JoanRivers and she has that she had
that card catalog system whereshe would pull out and there'd
be a joke and she could justpull that card out and then
there would be a written joke onit.
So she would kind of store allof her best jokes, all of her
best work in this card catalog.
Try to have a card catalog inyour mind of past projects, of
(16:25):
past situations that you caninstantly relate to a client.
So if you're working with aclient that has children, think
about situations where you havedesigned for family.
Think about how you have chosenthe right fabrics, how you've
chosen a specialty rug, how youhave overcome a challenge when
dealing with that demographic ofa client.
And if you go into that meetingand you go into that, by the
(16:46):
way, even if it's just aconsultation go into that
consultation with a few of thosechallenges in the back of your
mind, because what you're doingis you are overcoming that
objective that that client maypresent to you before they even
present it, and you can say,yeah, that could be a challenge.
And here is how we have done itin the path.
Here is what we have done inthe experience of our company
(17:07):
and in the experience of myselfor my team or my trade people,
whatever to overcome thatchallenge.
So it's just a rephrasing, it'sjust a minute change, but it
makes all the difference in theworld when you're speaking with
a client because you want themto have trust in you.
All right.
So those are the words that Iwould recommend either avoiding
or tweaking, as I said, with thealternative that I gave you.
(17:29):
And before we close out, I wantto give you an example of ways
to implement the into yourpractice so that you can start
to use them in your dailyinteraction.
So here's just a few notes thatI made.
First of all, practice makesperfect, practice using these
alternative phrases until theybecome second nature.
So use them with your family,use them with your husband, with
(17:50):
your wife, with your mom andyour dad, whomever, but use
these terms and start using themon a regular basis so that you
really just take those otherwords out of your vocabulary and
you're only using the instead.
So practice makes perfect,practice using these alternative
words and practice for moving,at the same time, those words
that have that negativeconnotation to them.
(18:11):
Mindful listening is another wayto implement this, and here
you're just paying attention tothe language that your clients
are using and you mirror thatlanguage with positive phrasing.
So listen to your client.
If they speak in a certain way,if they're communicating with
you in a certain manner, try tobe that chameleon and relay that
back to them in a way that ispositive to them.
(18:32):
So, words that they are saying,you can pick up on those words
and know that those are wordsthat either gives them comfort,
that gives them security, thatgives them trust in you.
And then start using thosewords in your conversation with
your clients, not only in thatvery first interaction, but
throughout the entire time thatyou're working with them.
Your client will feel more atease and they're again going to
(18:53):
build that trust factor in you.
Feedback Ask for feedback frompeople.
So if you're speaking with yourteam, with your spouse,
whomever, ask for feedback onyour communication style.
Just ask them Say hey, did thatcome across as pushy?
Did that come across assomething negative?
Ask them how it's beingperceived and then tweak it
based upon that.
Years ago I used to do directsales.
(19:16):
I had an advertisingpublication and I sold
advertising to different peopleand I was helping a friend out
with her own franchise one dayand I was helping her get some
ads to sell and I remember wewere sort of regrouped at the
end of the day and we were kindof comparing how the day went.
And she said, yeah, how wasyour day?
And I said it went great.
I had a lot of, you know, goodinteractions and positive
reactions to the publication andhopefully there'll be some new
(19:39):
clients coming on board.
And she said, yeah, there wasone person that actually called
me and told me that you werepushy.
And I was like, oh my gosh, Idon't ever want to think of
myself as being pushy, but whatit made me do was to stop and
think about the manner in whichI presented the information and
perhaps I didn't give the clienttime to you know, interact, ask
(20:00):
a question, to basically be apart of the conversation.
And from that moment, that hasalways stuck with me that I
don't want to just driveinformation home to clients or
even to you guys.
Now, I don't want to do that.
I want to be the person who isa collaborative conversation.
Conversations are a two-waystreet, so just ask for that
feedback, ask people how they'reperceiving what you're saying.
(20:21):
Is this resonating?
And maybe even if you're with aclient, you can just simply say
does that make sense or did Iexplain that well enough?
You have any questions?
Make sure that they are on thesame page with you and that they
do understand what you'resaying.
But when you talk to someonecloser to you, such as your team
, your family member, if you'redoing a discovery call, for
instance, have someone listen inon your discovery call to say,
(20:44):
hey, did you hear anything inthere that I said that was
off-putting or could bemisconstrued or thought about
differently?
Ask other people in your lifewhat they think about that.
So have someone monitor yourdiscovery call.
If you go on a consultation andyou bring someone with you, have
someone basically audit yourconsultation and make sure that
you're not saying things thatcould turn the client away and
(21:06):
make them not want to work withyou, because those initial
moments of speaking with someoneare so, so critical.
You don't want to have any wordagain that can be misconstrued
or taken in a different way.
You want to make sure that youkeep everything in a positive,
forward-moving area.
And, lastly, just continuousimprovement.
Keep learning and keep adapting.
As I said, as you work throughthese, you're going to find ways
(21:27):
to change it.
It is an ongoing process.
You're not going to be great atit in the beginning and you
might find certain words thatyou don't want to say still
slipping into your vocabularyand into your daily speech.
But you can start to noticethose and make a difference in
that, if you want to reallyfigure out what you're doing
right and what you're doingwrong, you could actually record
(21:49):
yourself.
So record yourself doing aconsultation, record yourself
doing a discovery call, recordyourself interacting with a
vendor.
Put the phone in your pocket,hit it, run record.
Of course, do it legally.
You're not going to put thisout anywhere, it's for your own
use.
But you can record yourselfjust to make sure that you are
saying what you want to say andwhat you intended to say.
(22:11):
And that other word didn't sortof slip in there.
All right, that is what I havefor you today.
I hope this has helped you onwords that matter.
Remember the words that youchoose can significantly
influence your clientrelationship and your overall
professional success.
By making small adjustments toyour language, what we talked
about today you can create amuch more positive,
(22:33):
collaborative.
That key all of the words thatI have told you to avoid, I
think, are anti-collaborative,that the words that I want you
to replace them with, or theterm or the phrase that I want
you to replace it with, is amuch more collaborative word or
term and it's just going to giveyou much more success with your
client.
So I hope this has helped you.
(22:54):
Write those down, practiceusing them Again.
It's not going to be overnightand you're not going to be
penalized for using the bad word, but you can start to change
the message that you put outinto the world and once you
start to do that, you're goingto find yourself just in casual
conversations, also sayingthings differently and speaking
with your friend at a cocktailparty, at a dinner, whatever.
You're just going to findyourself avoiding using words,
(23:17):
and probably there are so manymore in addition to what I've
brought to you today.
There could be words that youare specifically using in your
own language that are vague orto easily be misconstrued and
taken in a different way thanyou intended to use them.
So do an audit of the wordsthat you use.
Do an audit of your sales callsof.
Do an audit of your sales calls, of your consultations, of your
(23:39):
discovery calls, of your clientinteraction, of your vendor
interaction, and just reallyhone in on a better
communication style.
It will make you a bettersalesperson, it will make you a
better business owner and itwill also draw more clients to
you.
Because once you start to dothat in person, you're also
going to find the way that youspeak on social media, the way
that you speak on your website,the way that you speak in an
(24:00):
interview.
It all changes and then thatperception of you also changes
and before you know it, it is onautopilot and you're just
speaking in these terms,naturally and easily, and
everyone is on the same page andthere's little room for doubt
when you're being very clear inyour message.
So use words, make your wordsmatter and get out there and
make a difference.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday on this episode of the
(24:22):
Designer Within.
And remember, as I always saymake changes on the outside.
Sometimes you have to startwithin.
Thanks so much, everybody.
Thanks for sticking with me tothe end of the Designer Within
podcast.
It means the world to me.
If you're ready to dive deeperinto the topics that we've
discussed here, be sure to checkout my online coaching and
courses program,designsuccessacademycom.
(24:46):
Here I will teach youeverything you need to know to
run your interior designbusiness, from starting the
project all the way to the end,including marketing and pricing
your services for profit.
And for more information onthis podcast, including how to
be a guest, or my designservices in general, go to
JohnMcClainco.
(25:06):
That's JohnMcClainco.
See you soon, friend.
The words that we use can convey confidence.
They can convey empathy,professionalism, most
importantly, or they canunintentionally and this is
important unintentionally createbarriers and misunderstandings,
which no one wants when they'rerunning a business.
Hey y'all, you're listening tothe Designer Within Podcast,
episode number 50.
(00:20):
I'm John McClain, and welcometo the Designer Within podcast,
the business-minded podcastcreated for creative
entrepreneurs by a creativeentrepreneur that's me.
I know firsthand the challenges, but also the victories that
can come with our careers, andI'm here to sip and spill the
(00:41):
tea with you.
It's time to dive deep withinyourself and redesign your own
business and your life from theinside out.
Together, we will uncoversecrets and share valuable
insights.
So prepare for a transformativeexperience, my friends, because
it's time to unleash thedesigner within.
Hey everybody, welcome back toanother episode of the Designer
(01:03):
Within.
This is big number 50.
5-0.
I cannot believe that I haverecorded 50 different podcast
episodes since we started, sowe're coming up on one year, but
I thought let's stop before weget to one year and celebrate
episode 50.
So that is what this is.
I do want to thank all of youwho have found the podcast,
(01:23):
those of you who have found thepodcast, those of you who have
been here since the beginning.
It means so much to me to knowthat you listen to little old me
in your earbuds on your walk atthe gym, doing your laundry,
doing the dishes, whatever.
Thank you so much for justbeing a part of this podcast.
It really, really does mean theworld to me and I hope that
it's helping you.
I hope that it's helping yougrow.
(01:44):
I hope that it's helping you bea better designer, a better
business person.
Maybe you've learned somethings from me and the guests
along the way that you canactually apply to your business.
So that's the whole purpose ofthis.
As you might know, podcastproduction is lengthy.
It takes some time to puttogether the episodes, to edit
the episodes, all that marketing, so this does not come easy for
(02:06):
anybody.
But I love to carve the time inmy schedule to help everybody
out.
So I just want to thank you forbeing a big part of that.
So on that note, let meofficially welcome you to
episode 50.
Yay, on this episode.
It might be a shorter episode.
I'm not really sure.
I haven't really written toomany things out.
I have some notes, but I wantto talk about words and how
(02:26):
words matter when we are talkingwith a prospective client, a
current client, or even whenwe're talking to our team or
anyone else that we have inrelation to our business.
I just want to talk to youabout how the words that you
choose do matter and words thatI specifically like to avoid
when I'm speaking with clientsand when I'm speaking with
anyone, because I just don'tlike these words.
(02:48):
I don't think they have anybusiness being in the business
vernacular.
So let me explain what thoseare to you, why I don't like
them and how we can maybefinesse them or replace them
with a different word.
We're going to talk about wordsto completely avoid and I'm
going to offer you moreeffective alternative to you
instead.
So, whether you are in thedirect sales to your clients,
(03:10):
whether you are on the customerservice side of helping your
clients out, this really doesexpand and it doesn't really
just pertain to the interiordesign industry, but it
definitely does pertain to us.
But it can also apply to anyindustry, because anyone who is
running a business is in theindustry.
A skill no matter if you wantto admit that or not, I do want
(03:30):
to say effective communicationreally is the cornerstone of any
successful businessrelationship.
The words that we use canconvey confidence.
They can convey empathy,professionalism, most
importantly or they canunintentionally and this is
important unintentionally,because I know a lot of you are
saying things and you don't eventhink of the consequences that
(03:52):
they have, but they canunintentionally create barriers
and misunderstandings which noone wants when they're running a
business.
Today we're going to exploresome common words and phrases,
as I said, that might be doingmore harm than good and provide
you with the alternative to usein your client interaction.
The first word that I loathe andthat I never, ever want to
(04:12):
bring up with a client is theword cheap, and I hate the word
cheap.
Cheap has no place in any salesconversation.
Cheap instantly says somethingto me about the quality of what
I'm receiving, about the qualityof what I'm talking about.
Some people only see it asprice, I see it as low quality
and it's just a very limitingword, it's just a very negative
(04:35):
word.
So if you're showing a mirrorto a client and you can say
here's option A and option B.
Option A is this price, optionB is cheaper.
Instantly that client is goingto think, oh, that's cheaper
quality, that's cheaper made,that's manufactured in a
different way that I'm not goingto like Versus if you just said
option A is this, option B is alesser price but the same
(04:57):
quality.
So just having those twodifferentiation there lets the
person know that this is not acheaply made item, it just costs
less.
So my recommendation to you isto take the word cheap out of
your vocabulary and use lessexpensive, less costly, anything
that pertains directly to theprice of that item, versus
(05:17):
having any sort of connotationto the quality of that item.
Another word that I do not likeis the word budget, and that
word I feel is really ingrainedin interior designers, for
instance.
We always say hey, what is yourbudget?
What budget are you looking at?
To me, budget again has thatconnotation of low quality, low
(05:37):
expectations of it going to last, and I just want to always
remove that word budget.
It just feels.
Again back to the word cheap.
It feels cheap and verylimiting to me.
When someone says what is yourbudget, I much prefer to use the
word investment.
So instead of saying what isyour budget for this project, I
rather would say what is yourinvestment expectations for this
(06:01):
project.
See how that really sort ofchanges the conversation and
lets them know that the moneythat they are spending is going
to have a return on theirinvestment, is going to have an
ROI, versus just saying what isyour budget, budget, budget,
budget, budget is limiting.
Budget says only numbers.
Investment, to me, says thatthe money that they are spending
is going to go towardssomething valuable, it's going
(06:23):
to go long term, versus justonly speaking to the price of
that, whereas the wordinvestment says this is
something that I care aboutenough that I want you to invest
in.
So when you're speaking to aclient and you're asking them do
they have an amount in mind fortheir project?
I find that if you use the wordinvestment in their mind they
go to the fact that, oh, this isan investment in my home, this
(06:46):
is an investment in my family ifit's design that we're speaking
about, and this is just aninvestment in my future.
So always try to use the wordinvestment instead of budget.
I changed that years ago and ithas really made the difference
in the client's perception andalso how my team also sees what
we are presenting to clients aswell.
I just try to take that wordbudget out of every conversation
(07:07):
that I ever have with a client,because it just instantly
lowers the bar.
Another word that now this issmall, but I prefer to use that
and it has helped me is the wordcontract.
So contracts sound very formal,which it is.
I know that the form that theclient is signing is a formal
agreement, but contract to mesounds very one-sided.
(07:28):
It does not sound like there ismutual benefit for both parties
.
Instead of the word contract, Iprefer to use the word
agreement.
So any form of document that Ishow to a client, I always use
the term agreement.
So I say, king, I will sendover your agreement tomorrow.
Have you read your agreement?
Let's set up a time to reviewyour agreement.
Versus, say, here is yourcontract.
I think it disarmed the clientinstantly and they can see the
(07:50):
fact that you are agreeing towork together.
It also says that you arelooking for a cooperative
arrangement.
You're not just looking for aone-sided contract that they are
signing, you're looking for anagreement of both parties, and I
let clients know.
Another word that I use ispartnership.
I use the word partnership alot when I'm speaking with my
clients because I want them toknow that this is a partnership,
(08:13):
that we are working togetherfor a successful outcome, and
part of that is a solidagreement.
That agreement sets thefoundation for the outcome.
So consider using the wordagreement instead of the word
contract when you're speakingwith your client.
This also, by the way, thiscould go into any situation
where you have an agreement thatis necessary.
(08:33):
It could be if you have alicensing deal that you're
pitching.
It could be if you are signinga vendor, anything where there
is a signature of mutual parties.
And again, I'm not an attorney,of course.
I'm just telling you what Ilike to use.
You can choose what you want,but I love the word agreement
because, again, it shows amutual interest in both parties
coming together to agree tosomething.
Another word that I avoid usingin my firm and I've never used
(08:56):
this word since the beginning ofmy firm when I was a
solopreneur was the word I.
I feel like I is very limiting.
It also does not foster thatpartnership that I mentioned
earlier.
It does not say that, oh, thisis a partnership that we're
working toward a common goal foryour project.
It just sounds to me that thereis less collaboration when I
(09:18):
use the word I, also if you useinstead the word we always from
the beginning.
So if you area one-person show.
If you have two people, threepeople, I don't care.
I've always used the term wewhen referring to something
that's going to get done on afine project, because using the
term we shows that you haveother people surrounding you to
(09:38):
help your company, to make itbetter, to help that client, to
make that project better.
Whatever you are servicing thatclient for, by having a team of
people around it just showsthat client that they have more
people in their corner versusjust yourself.
Using the term we also createsa positive perception about your
company that you are a biggeroperation, that you are not just
(09:59):
limiting.
And I can tell you, when youare working with a client who
has a $5 million home, a $6million home, they're going to
feel much more at ease when theyknow that you have more people
working with you and you're notlying.
By the way, you do have otherpeople working with you.
Even if you are the only personsitting in your office, you do
have so many other people onyour side.
(10:20):
You have your vendors, you haveyour trade people, you have
your warehouse delivery, youhave the delivery people.
Anybody else that you'reworking with in your company
creates that we concept, so tryto stop using the word I only
when you're speaking withclients and always use the word
we.
It will give the client a muchmore settled feeling in dealing
(10:40):
with you and working with youand your company and they'll
just feel much more comfortableknowing that you have a team of
people who are helping youaccomplish the goal of making
their project.
Another word that I don't everwant to use is the word problem.
Using the word problem justinstantly send a negative
message out to someone.
When you say that there is aproblem like hold on, there's a
(11:01):
problem here.
No, you need to rephrase thatand to use a word such as
challenge or opportunity and, bythe way, I know this might
sound a little silly to changethe word problem, because we all
know that a problem is aproblem, but it is that client's
perception of how, again,you're going to deal with that.
And if you look at this as justa challenge that you can
(11:22):
overcome versus a problem thatmay or may not be overcome, the
client will feel much more atease in your hand if they know
that this is just a challenge.
You have seen this before.
Let them know that you haveworked through this before.
You have worked through otherchallenges, even if it wasn't
one as specific as that.
But this is just a challengeand you will overcome it and you
(11:42):
can even use the wordopportunity.
We know this is a challenge,but this is also an opportunity
to explore other options.
We see this challenge in notbeing able to move this wall,
but it's also an opportunitythat we can arrange your kitchen
in a different area.
But it also is an opportunitythat we can arrange your kitchen
(12:02):
in a different way to possiblywork even better for your family
.
So just turn that challengeinto a positive solution, into a
opportunity, and a client willfeel much more at ease, versus
if someone just says oh my God,it's a problem, I can't believe
this is happening.
This is a problem, problem,problem.
And as we are designers, weshould also pass this message
(12:23):
along to any tradespeople thatwe're working with, any general
contractors.
Always let them know to avoidusing these words because it can
alarm the client for no reasonwhatsoever.
So replace the word problemwith challenge, for no reason
whatsoever.
So replace the word problemwith challenge and I think
you'll find that thosechallenges and those warmer
problem are overcome and turnedinto opportunity and the client
(12:44):
feels again much more secure inyour hand.
Another word is discount.
I hate the word discount Again,discount has that negative
connotation.
It has that negative meaning.
It's saying, oh, this is adiscounted item, which means
it's probably not as good as aregular price item.
So the word discount allowspeople to take that term, just
like many of the words that I'mmentioning today, and come up
(13:06):
with their own definition to it.
So when you say the worddiscount, you probably instantly
think a discount bin.
I do.
I think a discount bin, adiscount rack at a clothing
store, something that's justcheap, that no one wants anymore
.
No, instead of the worddiscount, I want you to use the
words savings or a special offer, something again that just
relates to the price of it, thatdoesn't relate to the quality
(13:29):
of that.
So, for instance, you can sayyou're actually able to put all
of these fabulous light fixturesin your house because I have a
volume buying power with theclient, so I get a much bigger
savings and I'm able to help youand pass some of those savings
along to you.
So do you see the differenceversus saying this is discounted
, it's cheaper, it's less money,so you're going to spend less
(13:51):
on it.
There's no benefit to thatwhatsoever.
They instantly go to the price.
Oh, there must be somethingwrong with it.
And the whole point of these isthat, again, you don't want to
allow someone to put their ownnegative connotation on a word.
So if you can avoid that wordaltogether and put a more
positive word in there in placeof it, you're going to find that
your client and anyone elsethat you interact with will
(14:12):
react much, much better.
Something else and this issmall, but I don't like the word
unfortunately.
They're instantly let downautomatically.
When you say the wordunfortunately, it sounds as just
exactly what it is there is anunfortunate situation, there is
a less unfortunate situation,and I just really don't ever
want to use the wordunfortunately.
So instead of sayingunfortunately, we can't do that,
(14:34):
you can say something like inmy experience, this has worked
better, and here is what we canoffer you as an alternative
solution.
So do you see the difference inthat when you just take that
mind, shift from sayingunfortunately to rephrasing it
into a positive situation, andit's not lying, you're not
misguiding the client.
You're not misleading theclient.
You are just avoiding again thenegative connotations that come
(14:56):
along with certain words.
So try to avoid the wordunfortunately.
I know it's easy to put that inthere, but if you just rephrase
that into here is anothersolution that we can provide to
you.
You can leave that wordunfortunately out altogether.
Along those same lines is theword difficult.
I don't like the word difficult.
That just sounds like it mightor might not be able to be
(15:17):
accomplished, that you might ormight not be able to overcome it
.
So, instead of difficult, tryto use the word challenging.
That word sounds like you arefacing that challenge, but
you're going to also pair itwith a proactive approach.
So, for instance, instead ofsaying this is super difficult
to do, I don't know that we cando that, instead you can say
(15:38):
this is challenging, yes, but weare ready to handle it.
It is nothing that we haven'tseen before.
This is a challenge that we canovercome, much like another
challenge, and you can bring outan example of a past situation
with a client and let thatcurrent client know this is how
you overcame this otherchallenge and you're avoiding
(16:03):
that work difficult andreplacing it with a challenge
that can be overcome.
And this is why I tell you alltry to have some stories in the
recesses of your mind.
I always think about JoanRivers and she has that she had
that card catalog system whereshe would pull out and there'd
be a joke and she could justpull that card out and then
there would be a written joke onit.
So she would kind of store allof her best jokes, all of her
best work in this card catalog.
Try to have a card catalog inyour mind of past projects, of
(16:25):
past situations that you caninstantly relate to a client.
So if you're working with aclient that has children, think
about situations where you havedesigned for family.
Think about how you have chosenthe right fabrics, how you've
chosen a specialty rug, how youhave overcome a challenge when
dealing with that demographic ofa client.
And if you go into that meetingand you go into that, by the
(16:46):
way, even if it's just aconsultation go into that
consultation with a few of thosechallenges in the back of your
mind, because what you're doingis you are overcoming that
objective that that client maypresent to you before they even
present it, and you can say,yeah, that could be a challenge.
And here is how we have done itin the path.
Here is what we have done inthe experience of our company
(17:07):
and in the experience of myselfor my team or my trade people,
whatever to overcome thatchallenge.
So it's just a rephrasing, it'sjust a minute change, but it
makes all the difference in theworld when you're speaking with
a client because you want themto have trust in you.
All right.
So those are the words that Iwould recommend either avoiding
or tweaking, as I said, with thealternative that I gave you.
(17:29):
And before we close out, I wantto give you an example of ways
to implement the into yourpractice so that you can start
to use them in your dailyinteraction.
So here's just a few notes thatI made.
First of all, practice makesperfect, practice using these
alternative phrases until theybecome second nature.
So use them with your family,use them with your husband, with
(17:50):
your wife, with your mom andyour dad, whomever, but use
these terms and start using themon a regular basis so that you
really just take those otherwords out of your vocabulary and
you're only using the instead.
So practice makes perfect,practice using these alternative
words and practice for moving,at the same time, those words
that have that negativeconnotation to them.
(18:11):
Mindful listening is another wayto implement this, and here
you're just paying attention tothe language that your clients
are using and you mirror thatlanguage with positive phrasing.
So listen to your client.
If they speak in a certain way,if they're communicating with
you in a certain manner, try tobe that chameleon and relay that
back to them in a way that ispositive to them.
(18:32):
So, words that they are saying,you can pick up on those words
and know that those are wordsthat either gives them comfort,
that gives them security, thatgives them trust in you.
And then start using thosewords in your conversation with
your clients, not only in thatvery first interaction, but
throughout the entire time thatyou're working with them.
Your client will feel more atease and they're again going to
(18:53):
build that trust factor in you.
Feedback Ask for feedback frompeople.
So if you're speaking with yourteam, with your spouse,
whomever, ask for feedback onyour communication style.
Just ask them Say hey, did thatcome across as pushy?
Did that come across assomething negative?
Ask them how it's beingperceived and then tweak it
based upon that.
Years ago I used to do directsales.
(19:16):
I had an advertisingpublication and I sold
advertising to different peopleand I was helping a friend out
with her own franchise one dayand I was helping her get some
ads to sell and I remember wewere sort of regrouped at the
end of the day and we were kindof comparing how the day went.
And she said, yeah, how wasyour day?
And I said it went great.
I had a lot of, you know, goodinteractions and positive
reactions to the publication andhopefully there'll be some new
(19:39):
clients coming on board.
And she said, yeah, there wasone person that actually called
me and told me that you werepushy.
And I was like, oh my gosh, Idon't ever want to think of
myself as being pushy, but whatit made me do was to stop and
think about the manner in whichI presented the information and
perhaps I didn't give the clienttime to you know, interact, ask
(20:00):
a question, to basically be apart of the conversation.
And from that moment, that hasalways stuck with me that I
don't want to just driveinformation home to clients or
even to you guys.
Now, I don't want to do that.
I want to be the person who isa collaborative conversation.
Conversations are a two-waystreet, so just ask for that
feedback, ask people how they'reperceiving what you're saying.
(20:21):
Is this resonating?
And maybe even if you're with aclient, you can just simply say
does that make sense or did Iexplain that well enough?
You have any questions?
Make sure that they are on thesame page with you and that they
do understand what you'resaying.
But when you talk to someonecloser to you, such as your team
, your family member, if you'redoing a discovery call, for
instance, have someone listen inon your discovery call to say,
(20:44):
hey, did you hear anything inthere that I said that was
off-putting or could bemisconstrued or thought about
differently?
Ask other people in your lifewhat they think about that.
So have someone monitor yourdiscovery call.
If you go on a consultation andyou bring someone with you, have
someone basically audit yourconsultation and make sure that
you're not saying things thatcould turn the client away and
(21:06):
make them not want to work withyou, because those initial
moments of speaking with someoneare so, so critical.
You don't want to have any wordagain that can be misconstrued
or taken in a different way.
You want to make sure that youkeep everything in a positive,
forward-moving area.
And, lastly, just continuousimprovement.
Keep learning and keep adapting.
As I said, as you work throughthese, you're going to find ways
(21:27):
to change it.
It is an ongoing process.
You're not going to be great atit in the beginning and you
might find certain words thatyou don't want to say still
slipping into your vocabularyand into your daily speech.
But you can start to noticethose and make a difference in
that, if you want to reallyfigure out what you're doing
right and what you're doingwrong, you could actually record
(21:49):
yourself.
So record yourself doing aconsultation, record yourself
doing a discovery call, recordyourself interacting with a
vendor.
Put the phone in your pocket,hit it, run record.
Of course, do it legally.
You're not going to put thisout anywhere, it's for your own
use.
But you can record yourselfjust to make sure that you are
saying what you want to say andwhat you intended to say.
(22:11):
And that other word didn't sortof slip in there.
All right, that is what I havefor you today.
I hope this has helped you onwords that matter.
Remember the words that youchoose can significantly
influence your clientrelationship and your overall
professional success.
By making small adjustments toyour language, what we talked
about today you can create amuch more positive,
(22:33):
collaborative.
That key all of the words thatI have told you to avoid, I
think, are anti-collaborative,that the words that I want you
to replace them with, or theterm or the phrase that I want
you to replace it with, is amuch more collaborative word or
term and it's just going to giveyou much more success with your
client.
So I hope this has helped you.
(22:54):
Write those down, practiceusing them Again.
It's not going to be overnightand you're not going to be
penalized for using the bad word, but you can start to change
the message that you put outinto the world and once you
start to do that, you're goingto find yourself just in casual
conversations, also sayingthings differently and speaking
with your friend at a cocktailparty, at a dinner, whatever.
You're just going to findyourself avoiding using words,
(23:17):
and probably there are so manymore in addition to what I've
brought to you today.
There could be words that youare specifically using in your
own language that are vague orto easily be misconstrued and
taken in a different way thanyou intended to use them.
So do an audit of the wordsthat you use.
Do an audit of your sales callsof.
Do an audit of your sales calls, of your consultations, of your
(23:39):
discovery calls, of your clientinteraction, of your vendor
interaction, and just reallyhone in on a better
communication style.
It will make you a bettersalesperson, it will make you a
better business owner and itwill also draw more clients to
you.
Because once you start to dothat in person, you're also
going to find the way that youspeak on social media, the way
that you speak on your website,the way that you speak in an
(24:00):
interview.
It all changes and then thatperception of you also changes
and before you know it, it is onautopilot and you're just
speaking in these terms,naturally and easily, and
everyone is on the same page andthere's little room for doubt
when you're being very clear inyour message.
So use words, make your wordsmatter and get out there and
make a difference.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday on this episode of the
(24:22):
Designer Within.
And remember, as I always saymake changes on the outside.
Sometimes you have to startwithin.
Thanks so much, everybody.
Thanks for sticking with me tothe end of the Designer Within
podcast.
It means the world to me.
If you're ready to dive deeperinto the topics that we've
discussed here, be sure to checkout my online coaching and
courses program,designsuccessacademycom.
(24:46):
Here I will teach youeverything you need to know to
run your interior designbusiness, from starting the
project all the way to the end,including marketing and pricing
your services for profit.
And for more information onthis podcast, including how to
be a guest, or my designservices in general, go to
JohnMcClainco.
(25:06):
That's JohnMcClainco.
See you soon, friend.
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