Practical Sales Training™ > How To Get Attention > Named Behaviour
Named Behaviour
What Is It?
Naming a behaviour your client is already experiencing shows real understanding. That understanding is exactly what convinces someone you can actually help. A label does more work than a paragraph of explanation ever could.
Why Does It Work?
It works because whoever defines the problem best usually wins the sale. Describe what someone feels more precisely than they can themselves, and you win instantly. A clever name for it just seals the deal.
How Can You Use It?
Build A Portmanteau
There are a few ways to create a name people instantly understand. A portmanteau combines two existing words into one. House and embarrassment became “housebarrassment.”
Coin Your Own Effect
You can also coin your own effect. Throughout years of this work, plenty of behaviours went unnamed. Someone eventually gave them a name.
Find The Actual Term
Sometimes the word already exists, quietly, and people simply don’t know it yet. Communicating a message using only imagery and no words, for example, already has a name. It’s called semiotics.
When It Works Best
This works best when the behaviour you’re naming is genuinely widespread. Your buyer should instantly recognise it the moment they hear it described. It also helps when the name itself is fun to say, since that’s what makes people repeat it to others.
When It Becomes Dangerous
This becomes risky if the name feels forced, or clever for its own sake. A name nobody actually uses just sits there, doing nothing for your credibility.
Common Mistakes
Naming A Problem That Doesn’t Exist
Don’t invent a name for something people don’t actually experience. Naming a nonexistent problem convinces nobody, since there’s no recognition moment to trigger.
Making The Name Too Complicated
Never make the name so complicated it needs its own explanation. If you have to define your defined term, it was never really doing its job.
Named Behaviour – An Example
“Housebarrassment” is a term created by Wickes, a UK home improvement brand.
See also
- The Made Up Word Effect
- The Rename Effect
- Family of names
- 100+ ways to seize buyer attention
- 100+ ways to be more memorable
