“We need to do more prospecting.” That’s what the sales manager said in the Monday morning meeting. This was one of my coaching clients, and I was watching online as three of the salespeople nodded in agreement. Two others looked confused. And one salesperson spent the rest of the week making calls to existing customers, thinking he was “prospecting.”
Sound familiar? It should, because this scenario plays out in sales organizations every single day. We have a language problem in sales, and it’s costing us deals, wasting time, and creating confusion that could easily be avoided. You can’t succeed at selling without a common language. Period. And yet, most sales teams operate like the Tower of Babel – everyone speaking their own version of “sales speak” and wondering why nothing gets done effectively. Your team might be one of them.
THE INTERVIEW QUESTION THAT ILLUSTRATES THIS
I’ve been interviewing salespeople for clients for years, and there’s one question I always ask: “Tell me about the most recent new customer you sold.” It’s one of my favorite questions, and I ask it to get an understanding of the salesperson’s prospecting habits (you should ask this one too). You’d think this would be straightforward, right? Wrong.
More than half of the time, the candidate launches into a story about selling additional products or services to an existing customer. When I point out that wasn’t a new customer, they look at me like I’ve grown a second head. “But it was a new sale,” they protest.
No, it wasn’t. It was an upsell, a cross-sell, or an expansion – all valuable activities, but not new customer acquisition. The fact that experienced salespeople can’t distinguish between acquiring a new customer and selling more to an existing one tells you everything you need to know about our language problem.
The same confusion happens with “prospecting.” I ask salespeople about their prospecting activities, and they tell me about calling existing customers to check in or following up on quotes. That’s not prospecting – that’s account management or sales follow-up. Again, vitally important, but not prospecting. Prospecting means finding and reaching out to potential new customers. The distinction matters because these activities require different skills, different messaging, and different metrics.
IT’S NOT JUST SALESPEOPLE, YOU’RE PROBABLY DOING IT TOO.
This language confusion isn’t limited to salespeople – it extends to sales management and even HR. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen job postings that confuse “job description” with “job advertisement.”
A job description is an internal HR document that outlines duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and reporting relationships. It’s a legal document used for performance management, compensation decisions, and compliance purposes. A job advertisement is an external marketing document designed to attract candidates and sell them on the opportunity.
When you use these terms interchangeably, you end up with job ads that read like compliance documents – dry, uninspiring, and focused on what the company wants rather than what the candidate gets – which, by the way, are most of the job ads I see. No wonder good salespeople don’t respond to your postings.
THE REAL COST OF LANGUAGE CONFUSION
This isn’t just semantic nitpicking. Language confusion has real business consequences:
Wasted effort. When your team doesn’t have clear definitions, people spend time on the wrong activities. The salesperson who thinks prospecting means calling existing customers isn’t actually prospecting – and your new customer acquisition suffers as a result.
Misaligned expectations. When managers and salespeople use different definitions for the same terms, performance discussions become exercises in frustration. How can you hold someone accountable for “more prospecting” if you define prospecting differently?
Poor measurement. You can’t effectively measure what you can’t clearly define. If half your team considers upselling to be “new sales” and half doesn’t, your metrics are meaningless.
Customer confusion. When salespeople use industry jargon without ensuring mutual understanding, they create confusion that can derail deals. I’ve seen deals lost because the salesperson assumed the customer understood terms like “implementation timeline” or “service level agreement” the same way they did.
THE INTERNAL SOLUTION
Step one is getting your own house in order. Sales teams need what I call a “common language charter” – a document that clearly defines key terms and ensures everyone uses them consistently.
Start with the basics. What exactly do you mean by:
- Prospect vs. lead vs. opportunity
- New customer vs. existing customer
- Prospecting vs. account management
- Sales cycle vs. buying process
- Close vs. commitment
Don’t assume these definitions are obvious. I’ve worked with teams where “qualified lead” meant something different to marketing than it did to sales, creating friction and finger-pointing when leads didn’t convert.
Make this a living document. Review it in team meetings. When someone uses a term differently than your agreed-upon definition, address it immediately. Consistency requires constant reinforcement.
And please, for the love of all that’s holy, stop using euphemisms. A rejection isn’t “feedback.” A discount isn’t an “investment in the relationship.” A desperate end-of-quarter push isn’t “creating urgency.” Call things what they are.
THE CUSTOMER LANGUAGE BARRIER
The internal language challenge is nothing compared to the external one. Every industry has its jargon, acronyms, and specialized terminology. Your customers use these terms, but they might define them differently than you do.
Here’s what great salespeople do: They confirm definitions, and get on the same page with their customers. When a prospect mentions their “procurement process,” don’t assume you know what that means. Ask. “When you say procurement process, walk me through what that typically looks like at your company.”
This isn’t about appearing ignorant – it’s about ensuring alignment. I’ve seen salespeople lose deals because they assumed “budget approved” meant what they thought it meant, only to discover the customer meant something entirely different.
The same applies to your own jargon. When you mention “implementation,” “onboarding,” or “service delivery,” make sure your customer understands what you mean. Better yet, adopt their language when possible. If they call it “rollout” instead of “implementation,” use their term.
Don’t lose a deal because you and your customer didn’t have a common understanding of the meanings of the words being used.
MAKING THE CHANGE
Fixing your language problem isn’t complicated, but it does require discipline:
Document your definitions. Create that common language charter I mentioned. Get everyone’s input, reach consensus, and put it in writing.
Train consistently. Don’t just hand out the document and hope for the best. Role-play scenarios where language confusion could occur. Practice confirming definitions with prospects.
Monitor and correct. In team meetings, coaching sessions, and deal reviews, listen for language inconsistencies and address them immediately.
Lead by example. If you’re a sales manager, your language needs to be impeccable. Your team will mirror your communication habits, good or bad.
Remember, words mean things and language shapes thinking. When your team has clear, consistent definitions, they think more clearly about their activities and objectives. When they confirm language with customers, they build better relationships and avoid costly misunderstandings.
The sales profession faces enough challenges without adding unnecessary confusion through sloppy language. We can’t control market conditions, but we can control how clearly we communicate.
Start today. Pick three terms your team uses regularly and make sure everyone defines them the same way. Then expand from there. Your results – and your sanity – will thank you.
After all, if we can’t even agree on what we’re talking about, how can we expect to succeed at selling it?
