Real human salespeople

Continuing on from my post about jargon, something that stuck with me from the seminal dotcom, the-world-will-never-be-the-same-again-whoop-whoop, book "The Cluetrain Manifesto" is the phrase "corporations should speak with a human voice". The premise being that we as consumers, even as business people in our working lives, have become cynical and distrusting of stiff language designed to keep us at a distance “We value your business. Your call is important to us.”, and that people want to deal with straight-talking people like them, not corporate automatons.

Admitting mistakes, speaking frankly, without jargon and showing interest and concern for the prospect is a genuine strength.