Xenoglossy Poleoglossy Hubris

Throughout this year so far, I've hit my head a fair few times against the brick wall that is the 'unconscious incompetent'.

Given my wealth of experience, especially from my many days of business tech New Product Rescue, I was half-expecting it. Not quite though, to this scale.

I have learned there is a misconception to avoid colouring your efforts.

Namely, that what someone themselves 'sell' is how they themselves 'buy'.

In this case, for those pitching new tech less on the basis of the wonders that it will bring, but more on the devils they slay. In other words, how they alone can end a stultifying malaise and unleash a fix through their uniquely wrought change.

You'd think such people would be very much up for any approach heralding sunlit uplands.

After all, that's how they catch new business themselves, right?

Erh, well, not exactly.

I'm thinking of those selling outsourcing who prefer to tackle it in-house. Those selling 'remote' yet exclusively pursue in-person meetings. Even those selling a type of sector 'best-practice' but aren't interested in applying that thinking to the latest medium (yep, video calls) for how they conduct business.

Here are three brief phrases I've used for my current endeavour;

I can unlock distinctive sales video calls.

Wouldn't you like to add at least one breakthrough trick to your videoing repertoire?

Curious to know what you don't know?

Of these, the first two garner welcome conversation. It is very much the latter which pulls up their drawbridge.

Which did surprise me somewhat. Especially considering that the Sales leaders with whom I talk are themselves at the vanguard of not just tech, but surely ways of doing business and of learning too.

I am determined to persevere with this evocation of the fabled 'unknown unknowns' framing. Remix or ditch as required. So it came as nice timing that I discovered [via strangely engaging The Unexplained] xenoglossy.

Do bear with me a tad here. As the piece was on a 'discovery' through exorcism, mediums and reincarnation research. Anyway, for the real world specifically this is what piqued my Sales antennae [here's the wiki line];

the supposedly paranormal phenomenon in which a person is able to speak, write or understand an unlearned language they could not have acquired by natural means.

Coined by a French 'parapsychologist' back in 1905, another term for it being xenolalia. Which makes sense. As I knew the Greek derived pejorative for 'speaking in tongues'; glossolalia. The xeno- [pronounced zen-o] prefix relating to that which is foreign or of different origin to you.

I think (!) the most common Ancient Greek for 'sell' [πωλέω] we'd say in English as 'poleo'.

If so, then are we talking a case of poleoglossy here? (Or maybe poleolalia?);

the supposedly mystical phenomenon in which a salesperson is able to pitch, question, storytell, engage and persuade - particularly over a new means such as video calls - without ever having any guidance specific to that medium.

To accept this is to tacitly acknowledge that, 1) video sales meetings are here to stay, 2) that they should be embraced with sales processes adapted where necessary to their use, and 3) anybody in solution selling would benefit from a video skills fillip.

That's my take.

If you also sell to sellers, then this term is ripe for your growth.

If you sell to other types of buyers (such as, but not confined to, anything involving 'training'), then have confidence to swap in your own prefix for xeno- and poleo-. To elicit positive engagement with your chosen audience.