It seems every year a word pops up and finds its way into the everyday conversation, such as awesome, amazing, super, or fabulous. One can easily fill in the blanks of other not very important, but overly used, words.

Then come important words such as transparency, ethics, and honesty, whose overuse can take the punch out of their significance. Everyone uses them, but not as many actually adhere to them or can apply them consistently. Words are, of course, very important to us as a society and as people trying to build on history, communication, and common ground and an understanding of each other.

I was at a market presentation this past week and one of the themes was to find ways to take regular statements and words we all use when we are describing our services and be sure when we say them they do not fall on deaf ears. For instance, at our company, and some other brokerage companies, we strongly believe in the value of a full-time technical representative working for our clients when they buy or sell an airplane.

When we say to a prospect that we provide that support, are we really saying it in a way that it resonates to the prospect as it should? The statement or words might not in and of themselves be enough to demonstrate the real value of the technical person provided. We must go on to talk about the reliability and cost savings this technical person provides after the sale or purchase.

Another example would be to make a statement about the fact that we, and others, have full-time highly skilled market research departments. We always felt that said it all. Perhaps we were wrong.

What benefits do the client and prospect get from that powerful staff member? A high awareness of the markets, geographical differences in values of airplanes based around the world, and likely fewer days on the market as a result. If you are selling with strong knowledge of market segments and residual loss rates, then you can feel certain you are pricing the aircraft correctly and not leaving anything on the table. These are real value adds for the prospects and clients that are always obvious to us but not necessarily as obvious to the client.

What buyers and sellers all strive for is certainty in a transaction. The clearer you can be with your words to your customers about the services you provide and the benefits they will gain, the more confident they will be in what is often a difficult or at least time-consuming process. So many people say they are transparent, have high ethics, and are hands-on, but what really means the most to all sides involved in a deal is to walk or fly away feeling well represented. After all, one can withstand a higher degree of sweat and pain if the end result is a deal!

Jay Mesinger is the CEO and Founder of Mesinger Jet Sales, an international aircraft brokerage firm with 44 years of experience in the industry. Mesinger Jet Sales has modernized the formula for buying and selling aircraft and provides their clients with the best market intelligence for aircraft sales pricing and correct acquisition expectations.