But if you use the wrong word, your conversation partner will assume,
correctly, that you are a stranger in his or her hobbyland.
The Peril of Not Echoing
Sometimes you lose out by not Echoing. My friend Phil and I were
talking with several guests at a party. One woman proudly told the group
about the wonderful new ski chalet she had just puchased. She was looking
forward to inviting her friends up to her little chalet in the mountains.
Thats wonderful, said Phil, secretly hoping for an invittion. Where
exactly is your cabin? KERPLUNK! There went Phils chances for an
invitation to the ladys chalet.
I couldnt resist. After the conversation, I whispered to my friend, Phil,
why did you insult that woman by calling her chalet a cabin? Phil scratched
his head and said, What do you mean insult her? Cabin is a beautiful word.
My family has a cabin in Cape Cod and I grew up loving the word, the
associations, the joy of a cabin. (In other words, the connotations of cabin.)
Well, fine, Phil. The word cabin may be beautiful to you, but obviously the
skier preferred the word chalet.
Professional Echoing
In todays sales environment, customers expect salespeople to be
problem solvers, not just vendors. They feel you dont grasp their industrys
problems if you dont speak their language.
I have a friend, Penny, who sells office furniture. People in publishing,
advertising, broadcasting, and a few lawyers are among her clients. Pennys
sales manual says office furniture. However, she
told me, if she used the word office with all of her clients, theyd assume
she knew nothing about their respective industries.
She told me her client, the purchasing officer in advertising, talks about
his advertising agency. Pennys publishing client says publishing house. The
lawyers talk about furniture for their firm, and her radio clients use the
word station instead of office. Hey, Penny says, its their salt mine. They can
call it whatever the heck they please. And, she added, if I want to make the
sale, Id beter call it the same thing.
Echoing Is Politically Correct Insurance
Heres a quiz: Youre talking with a pharmacist and you ask her, How
long have you worked at the drugstore? Whats wrong with that question?
Give up? Its the word drugstore. Pharmacists abhor the word because it
conjures up many industry problems. Theyre used to hearing it from
ooja
(Ooja)
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