Part of a salesperson’s role is building rapport with a prospect – it is a vital skill. A salesperson needs to match a prospect’s communication style since people naturally tend to relate to those they perceive to be similar to themselves. This older article from eyesonsales.com from Patricia Fripp, entitled Fat and Skinny Words: Levels of Abstraction throws an important concept into the rapport-building mix.

Not only do salespeople need to adjust their communication style to match the prospect, but also their level of abstraction to match the organization level with whom they are communicating. The author explains her point by using the simple analogy of an automobile. If a salesperson is talking to a high level in the organization, for instance a Vice President, the salesperson could refer to an automobile as a wheeled passenger vehicle or as surface transportation. Generally speaking, Vice Presidents tend to look at big picture concepts and not minute details.

As salespeople move down into the organization, they need to the have their words become “skinnier” (her description). At the end-user level, the automobile would then be described as a red, four door sedan with a V6 engine. The author’s summation of this level of abstraction – “Eventually, you would be talking about a specific car. Those are “skinny” words. They are essential for conveying instructions and solving technical problems.”

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