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This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39119977,00.htm

Is confusing jargon the salesman's secret weapon?
"If you don't upgrade to v.3.2 PDQ you'll be running your 3 Gigatron Riplex servers at 780 Meta Watts - and that will never max out the power of your duel processor chipsets...so sign here and I'll be off..."

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Wednesday 14 April 2004

Confusing technical jargon is being used to sell more than a quarter of all IT kit according to an alarming new survey.

According to research from VIA NET.WORKS 26 per cent of SMEs admitted to buying the wrong kit simply because they were blinded by jargon.

The one grey area is whether the obfuscation is deliberate as salespeople unsettle customers with techno-speak and sales double-talk or whether it is just due to the rapid evolution of the acronym-rich IT market and general confusion about the best solutions on the market.

The suggestion of mis-selling, or deliberately blinding with jargon, is an accusation which is taken very seriously within the sales sector.

The MD of one IT consultancy, who asked to remain anonymous, told silicon.com: "I don't think I have ever personally come across an occasion of mis-selling and would look upon it very seriously if I ever did. I wouldn't discount it ever having happened though as there is always a less than scrupulous element in any industry.

"It just falls to the rest of us to uphold good practice when it comes to advising our clients."

A fifth of respondents to the survey - perhaps among those who've fallen foul of jargon in the past - said sales should all be conducted in 'plain English' and jargon should be avoided to prevent confusion. After all it's in the salespeople's best interest not to leave customers feeling as though they've been misled.

Nick Callaghan, managing director of VIA NET.WORKS UK, said: "Although it is hard to eliminate the use of technical terms in our industry, we have a duty to our customers to ensure we explain technology clearly and relate it to their business."

Callaghan added that clear communication of business benefits and "translating technology into layman's terms" should form a vital part of any sales discussion.