Salespeople usually get trained by “learning on the job.” Depending on who’s teaching, that may be OK, but it often leads to non-conformity of understanding from one salesperson to another. As salespeople move around, they find that they have little in common with their fellows as far as understanding the fundamental language of the sale.

Without formal academic teaching, the language of sales has developed in a distorted way. Even some of the most commonly used words, such as opportunity, can be understood differently from one salesperson to another. Some are convinced that an opportunity is a lead, an indication that someone may be interested in your product. Others say that the opportunity really doesn’t have any bite until there is concrete evidence that the customer is serious about buying something, such as when a request for a proposal arrives.

If the latter idea is taken to the extreme, opportunities are not recognized until late into the customer’s buying process–this is not a good way to sell against competition who know better.