Choice of Words –- Make or Break
Word choice matters.
I was with my son in the pizza shop a few days ago, and he said to me “Totty, I NEED coffee.”
I reply, “No Shmili, you WANT coffee.”
A couple minutes later I go to the register and the cashier said, “So, you WANT to pay?”
And to that I said, “Well, I NEED to pay.”
Both of these conversations got me thinking about word choice, and what it means to us as it relates to business.
For example, when it comes to business…
Do not call your employees, “employees.” Walmart calls them “associates.” Starbucks calls them “partners.” Zappos, “customer loyalty representatives.”
Successful companies are finding different ways to name their employees. There are so many words you can use: co-workers, assistants, junior partners, teammates, representative or associates. In my opinion this is a good idea, as the term “employee” can be a little degrading.
Most employees think they are the “money makers” in your business. They don’t realize that there are so many other processes in the business that bring in the dough, such as product buying, advertising, joint venture and marketing agreements, etc… Using another term besides “employee” makes them feel better about their place in the company.
Here’s a story: A restaurant owner gives his customers a bottle of wine and a cup, from which they can drink as many cups as they want without anybody looking and tell they cashier how many cups they had at the end.
An employee, concerned, says to the owner, “You know, people are cheating from you. They are not telling you how much they are really drinking.”
And the business owner says, “Yes, of course I know. But look at the line outside — it goes around the block.”
The point is that you should make the customer feel like they are always winning. You should let the other person, whomever you deal with — the customer, your family, your employees — win, all the time.
A final point. With today’s spellcheckers, you have to be careful. Consider, in Microsoft Word, sometimes it can confuse “definitely” and “defiantly” — a small difference with the characters, but a big difference in meaning! Please share your own examples in the comment section of this post.
Keep connected and leap forward in your business by subscribing to my newsletter at www.SnapAhead.com.
Comments
No Comments
Leave a reply