Top 10 Most Cringe-Inducing Sales Rep Phrases

I was having dinner with a group of people the other day, and I heard a phrase that is frequently uttered at dinner that always makes me cringe. While I was scooping some potatoes onto my plate, one of the guests looks at me and says “I’ll have the potatoes.”

My gut reaction to that phrase is always to think “really? You’ll have the potatoes?” Is that a request or a direct order? Am I wearing a sign that says ‘Hello, I’m your waiter?’  If you’d like me to pass you the potatoes, then maybe you should try asking me to pass them to you. And would it kill you to throw a please in there?!?

I don’t know what it is about dinner tables, but I hear that phrase uttered over and over again, and every time it just makes me cringe. And it got me thinking…if there are common cringe-inducing phrases uttered at dinner tables all over the world, then there surely are common cringe-inducing phrases uttered during sales calls.

What phrases do you hear reps say that make you cringe?  Help us complete our Top 10 Most Cringe-Inducing Phrases by adding your own in the comments below.

(Full disclosure…I may have uttered one or two of these myself over the years…)

Top 10 Most Cringe-Inducing Rep Phrases

“Let me check with my manager…”
“As I stated before…”
“Obviously…” (if it’s so obvious, why did you say it!?!)
“To be honest with you…” (have you not been being honest this whole time?)
“Let me tell you why we’re better than…”
“What’s it gonna take to get you to sign the purchase order?”
“Let me go back and sharpen my pencil.”
“What keeps you up at night?”
…
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