Stop saying these 4 phrases in sales conversations

Welcome back to Stacked Seller.

It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, which means it’s officially acceptable to put carbs over calls.

But before you start stuffing the turkey, let’s talk about 4 phrases you shouldn’t be stuffing into your sales conversations.

Reps often devalue themselves in front of prospects – usually when introducing teammates.

They’ll say something like: “This is Sarah, our solutions engineer. She’s way smarter than me on this stuff.”

This kind of self-deprecating humility hurts your positioning.

It suggests that up until now, they weren't talking to someone who actually knows what they're talking about.

Bringing in experts is smart. But you can do it without eroding your own credibility.

What to say instead:

“This is Sarah, our SE. She specializes in X, which will help us solve Y.”

OR

“I handle the strategy side of things, and Sarah is my technical counterpart.”

This slips out when you’re checking if they're following along.

But instead of confirming alignment, it sounds like you’re fishing for reassurance.

It signals: "I'm not sure I explained this well enough."

What to say instead:

“How’s this resonating with you so far?”

OR

“I’ll take a quick pause here. Any questions so far?”

Think about this for a second.

If you need to announce when you're being honest... what does that say about everything else you've said?

It's a filler phrase that accidentally plants doubt.

Instead of building confidence, it weakens it.

What to say instead:

Just say the thing. Remove "to be honest" entirely and get straight to the point.

This puts them on a pedestal and signals their time is more valuable than yours.

It positions you as an interruption rather than a value-add.

So stop apologizing for your existence.

You can respect their time without shrinking your own value.

What to say instead:

"Thanks for making time for this." (if you must acknowledge it)

OR

“Let’s make sure we use our time well today.”

That's 4 language upgrades that will make you a better communicator. 

But bad habits die hard. 

If you've been saying "does that make sense?" for years, it's not disappearing overnight – and that’s okay.

Here’s what will happen instead:

The next time one of these phrases slips out, you’ll notice it.

And that’s the point.

Over time, noticing becomes intention. 

Intention becomes habit.

*Reply with your number. I’ll share the poll results in the next issue.

*Thanks for all the votes last week. Y’all proofread like your job depends on it (because it kinda does).