There is no “I” in “we”.

I was rehearsing one of my webinars with my sales team, headed by Jay Spievogel of Venator Sales Group.  My content was airtight. Jay kept correcting little things and one not so little thing.  Which is common, I’m told, to all small businesses.  I kept using the word “I” instead of “we” when discussing Holtzman Communications.  And some of my focus was on my personal career.

So here’s what I learned that I’m passing on to all of you other small business owners.  Never use the word “I” in selling your business – it’s always “we”.

You’re just the CEO; you’re not the company.  Even if there are no other employees there is still the entity called [Your Company Name Here], which is what they are buying.

When someone says “I” incessantly, listeners tend to resist whatever they’re saying. This makes them seem self-centered, egotistical and possibly difficult to work with.

Steve Jobs does not make any reference to his personal career when discussing the iPad 2; nor does anybody who buys an iPad or a iphone care about Steve’s background and career history.

Holtzman Communications  = clients, process, people, sum of the entire team’s experience

Holtzman Communications does not = my career history

There’s you and there’s the business.  And you work for the business.  Important distinction.  Once you get it into your head and speech patterns, it becomes so much easier to say who you work for, and what the benefits of the company are. You won’t have to think about it and that won’t slow you down in your speaking or your thinking.  It’s a much more professional way to present yourself and your company.

And by the way, this is also true for relationships.  There is no “me” in “we”.

Sandra Holtzman teaches CEO 035: Licensing.