Unless they are on premium, most buyers rarely differentiate a product the way its seller does. The latter uses its official name. Buyers refer to it as they understand it. It accelerates the sale when the seller rides with the buyer’s term. It frustrates the sale when she insists on the official name being used.
So what if the buyer says, “I’m on the 2,700 shillings package”? The progressive seller knows which one that is and proceeds with the sale or service required. The average seller first insists on (inadvertently) frustrating the sale by asking: “Which one is that?”; or, derisively, “It’s called the bronze package (thereby making the buyer feel that less intelligent or that more ignorant)
Buyers are selfish. They want only what they want not what the buyer wants. Hence the tussle in the education sector, incidentally: Parents want to buy their perceived value of the delivery of online education and not what the school insists— that it’s operating costs must be met.
In the case of product name, buyers will refer to it the way they understand it and expect the seller to know what they mean. So, it could be bronze package to the seller, but, to the buyer it could be, “The orange one” or “The one I pay every three months” or, any point of reference that suits him. And even after you correct them this month, you’ll be lucky if they use the “correct” term the next time. You’re likely to hear, “I know you told me what it’s called but I forgot. I just find it easy to remember it as that one that starts with 110…” The average seller wants to pull out her hair at this point. The progressive seller seamlessly goes with the flow. “Yes, the orange package (or, simply “That one”) has since been upgraded.”
Incidentally, even when the buyer confidently says, bronze package, explore this because they could be wrong. He could be trying to impress you. The response to a simple, “I’m happy to hear you know our products. What did you like about bronze that made you choose it?”, will confirm that you are on the same page.
But why do some sellers insist on using the official product name? Several reasons abound. It could be the typical rigidity of inward looking internal product training which by its very delivery is technical in nature. Or, the seller struggles with perfectionism and anything but the official name grates her. Or, for some reason, the seller thinks it will reflect poorly on their intelligence if they are seen to be “wrong”; a mindset which is usually borne of an education system that focuses more on ticks than x’s to measure intelligence.
Whatever the reason, to thrive, sellers should adapt to the buyer’s use of the name or work with it because smoothness of the relationship always trumps correctness of product name.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
