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Euphemisms in sales
2

Euphemisms in sales

Euphemisms in sales

(OP)
How's this piece of marketing "spin" from an educational institution (of all places)!

"... a very interactive negotiation skills course ...   
WHEN: 16-17 November (Tue-Wed)
INVESTMENT: --- Members: $750.00 Non-Members: $850.00"

Investment?  Why are such euphemisms necessary?  Remind me never to take any of their courses.

Bung
Life is non-linear...

RE: Euphemisms in sales


This reminds me strongly of a FRONTLINE tv show I saw recently about Market Research/Politic-ing.

One researcher used a system in which he assembled a sample group of people belonging to polar groups- in this example, it was Republicans/Democrats.  

The researcher gave everyone in the group a device that allowed them to register their level of personal agreement in a continious manner- a knobbed device that was turned to one extreme of 100% agreement to the other extreme of 0% agreement.

These devices were continously manipulated during a broadcast of a political speech, during which the collective results of the Republicans and the Democrats were collected.

The value to the researcher was to record what the politician was saying at the timepoints during the speech that both groups registered high agreement.

In this manner, he recorded what words and phrases were most appealing to the group as a whole, regardless of political affiliation; thereby allowing a prospective canidate to formulate a speech using words that alienates or angers the least amount of constituents.



Somewhere, sometime, a market researcher said: "...Cost?!  No!!  It is far too biased of a word...  We will use INVESTMENT instead and reap the rewards of calling "a rose by any other name"!"  

I agree with you.  It is utter foolishness and maybe unethical to coax people into "groupthink".

RE: Euphemisms in sales

I don't know how well the "ideal" political speech would work.  Some time ago there was a study identifying elements of music that people really liked and really disliked.  Then someone composed a piece (or maybe they even put a computer on it) using all the well-liked elements and another piece using all the disliked elements.  The "bad" piece was pretty cool.  The "good" piece was crap.  Guess they forgot to include the "saccharinity" parameter.  I bet they forgot to include the "inanity" parameter in the political study.  "He's not saying anything" doesn't really have an opportunity to be reflected in a knob.

Is "investment" for "cost" really any worse than "pre-owned" for "used"?  Is there a chance they thought they were being cute rather than just trying to put something over on people?

Hg

RE: Euphemisms in sales

(OP)
I don't think they were trying to "put something over people".  I think it is just some pseudo-academic business school saying, "Well, it isn't really just a cost.  It is an investment,'cos you will get a return..."

Maybe they just need to get their hands off the joystick?
Or is that also euphemistic

Bung
Life is non-linear...

RE: Euphemisms in sales

That reminds me of the description of the house I eventually bought:

"...unspoiled basement..." that means I will have to spoil it myself to make it livable.

Keep those ideas flowing...

Putting Human Factor Back in Engineering

RE: Euphemisms in sales

Reminds me of the car salesperson who referred to the expense of the vehicle as an "investment".

Hogwash!!!

There is certainly no return on that expense.


Buy a dictionary, keep it nearby and USE it. Webster's New World Dictionary of American English is recommended, and Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

As a salesperson (but still an engineer) I confirm there is definitely a fine line between slightly increasing the chances of your product and having them plunge to zero by mistaking your potential customer for an imbecile. I think engineers are more sensitive to that than any other group of people. One number says more than 1000 euphemisms.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

At a management seminar I was told that in business there are NO PROBLEMS. Instead we only have OPPORTUNITIES.

Great mirth in the office. Boss's car won't start and he's late for work. We inform him he's had an opportunity in his driveway.

Soon we'll find out if being fired is a problem or an opportunity. Let you know.

John

RE: Euphemisms in sales

So if the problem disappears we should all be sad..? I hate that kind of Orwellian talk. A problem can only be an opportunity if all your competitors have the same problem and if you have good reasons to think you can solve it more easily than they can.

It always amazes me how much easier it is to be a management consultant than to be a manager. Anybody with a few years worth of bad experiences can fire such kind of useless statements at other people.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

I know a lot of engineers are quite pessimistic by nature. That may be why we have difficulty with the PROBLEM or OPPORTUNITY dichotomy, but there is no real dichotomy. For most people, any deviation from the planned path is viewed either as a problem or as an opportunity on whim. The pessimist sees all deviation as a problem, the optimist sees all deviation as an opportunity.

The dictum 'There are no problems, only opportunities' is not really intended to gloss over or simplify challenges, but should help to overcome our natural pessimism. After all, if entrepreneurs saw all deviations from plan as 'problems' we would never get any progress. Similarly if engineers saw all deviations as opportunities we would see a lot more Tacoma Narrows bridges.

The issue here seems to be whether to encourage positive thinking among pessimists or to allow them to bring the world to a grinding halt.

For real progress we need to see more efforts to bridge the gap. Without Sales and Management there is no Engineering, and vice versa. There is a big difference between parasitism and symbiosis, and we can't afford to forget it!

Good Luck
johnwm
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RE: Euphemisms in sales

I may have even read it somewhere on this site, but I am reminded of the quote "I've never had to solve an opportunity."

RE: Euphemisms in sales

Quote:

There are no problems, only opportunities.

This does not that the person who experiences the problem is also the one presented with the opportunity.

In Harrisj's case the boss has a problem, and Harris was presented with the opportunity to make a wise-a$$ comment.

Or, a more optimistic hypothetical case:

Because of the boss' car problem, he was unable to make a presentation to the CEO.  Since Harris was really the one that prepared the presentation anyway, he seizes the opportunity, and makes the presentation himself.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

Quote (crossframe):

"I've never had to solve an opportunity."
But the solution to the situation that you view as a problem is the opportunity to move forward! You don't need to view everything as negative

Good Luck
johnwm
________________________________________________________
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UK steam enthusiasts: www.essexsteam.co.uk

RE: Euphemisms in sales

I've always heard the saying as "There are no problems, only opportunities to excel.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

MintJulep sez:  

Quote:

This does not [mean] that the person who experiences the problem is also the one presented with the opportunity.

A-freaking-men.

I have all the "opportunities" I need within the confines of my current job, thankyouverymuch.  Now if one of my problems could only translate into the job of my dreams just falling right into my lap...

Hg

RE: Euphemisms in sales

(OP)
This 'problem' as an 'opportunity ' thing is still a misrepresentation of the basic facts.  You have a problem.  You have an opportunity to fix it.  The problem is not the opportunity, it is the necessary pre-condition to you seizing the opportunity it may present to you.

Carpe diem, Harvie Krumpet.

Bung
Life is non-linear...

RE: Euphemisms in sales

"For most people, any deviation from the planned path is viewed either as a problem or as an opportunity on whim. The pessimist sees all deviation as a problem, the optimist sees all deviation as an opportunity."

Naah... you can tell from most deviations from the planned path clearly and objectively whether they deviate to the positive or to the negative side!! Taking the car breakdown example, please don't tell me that it is either a problem or an opportunity, depending on how pink or black your glasses are. Problems can sometimes (rare cases) TURN OUT to be opportunities, or there can be a few grains of opportunity hiding under a big pile of sh**, that's all.

I do support the aim to make engineers (or let's just say the whole world) think more positively. The other cliché "there are no problems, only solutions" annoys me much less, I think it's almost true. But please don't take me for an idiot and ask me to smile each time I run into a problem, because I would get sad the day I wouldn't encounter any.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

Other than chemical solutions, can you have a solution if you do not have a problem?  Seems to me kind of a "yin-yang" kind of thing.

Accidents sometimes have happy results - the development of a stable rubber product for tires and other such things was an accident of spilling a latex solution on a hot stove.  But I sure wouldn't advocate deliberately creating accidents in order to find solutions to problems.

RE: Euphemisms in sales

Schetwynd, I think the word for such an occurrence is serendipity.

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