Words have power
I often hear things that sound good on the surface and yet are often counterproductive and I hear them far more often than you might think.
A couple of examples are “affordable” and we are or we are seeking “nice people.”
Both sound reasonable. Both feel positive. But both quietly undermine you.
Because the words you use to describe your business aren’t neutral. They shape how other people see you, and more importantly, how you think about what you do.
Take the word “affordable.” It sounds sensible and customer-friendly, but what does it actually communicate? Robert Cialdini’s work on influence shows that people rely on cues to decide how to value something. The language you use becomes one of those cues. If you position yourself as “affordable,” you are not leading with quality, expertise or outcomes. You’re leading with price. And once price becomes the anchor, everything else gets judged against it. You don’t attract better clients; you attract more price-sensitive ones.
The same applies to “nice clients.” On the surface, it feels harmless. Of course you want to work with good people. But “nice” isn’t a strategy. It doesn’t define industry, size, budget, expectations or behaviour. It doesn’t help your team make decisions or filter opportunities. It simply sounds good while hiding a lack of clarity.
This pattern shows up everywhere. Businesses say “we’ll look after you,” “we’re flexible,” or “we can do anything.” All well-intentioned. All vague. And vague language creates vague businesses.
There’s another layer to this that is often overlooked. The words you use don’t just influence your customers; they influence you. Your Reticular Activating System — the part of your brain that filters what you notice and pay attention to — looks for patterns that align with your focus. If you describe your business as “affordable,” your thinking starts to align with that positioning. You notice cost more readily, you justify lower pricing, and you become more tolerant of tighter margins. If your ideal client is “nice,” you don’t filter properly. You accept work that feels comfortable rather than work that genuinely fits.
Over time, your language becomes your reality. Not because the market forces it, but because your thinking follows your words and your decisions follow your thinking.
This is why clarity matters. Clear thinking produces clear language, and clear language leads to better decisions. Strong businesses are deliberate in how they describe themselves. They are specific about who they work with, clear on the value they create, and disciplined about what they don’t do.
If your language is vague, your positioning will be vague. If your positioning is vague, your results may well be inconsistent.
So it’s worth paying attention.
Because what you say about your business is often not what you mean — but it is exactly how you’re understood. And over time, it becomes how your business behaves.
Andy Walter
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