According to a study of 500 business owners by Opal, the b2b division of broadband provider TalkTalk Group, more than half (55 per cent) say baffling technical terms cause them to ‘occasionally’ make decisions about telecommunications which they don’t fully understand, with 13 per cent reporting this happened ‘regularly’.

The vast majority (78 per cent) of owner managers say they’re often put off scoping out new projects or even speaking to suppliers due to fear of confusing jargon during the sell.

Furthermore, 18 per cent of managers believe that the use of jargon shows a lack of understanding of their business needs.

Clive Davenport, trade and industry committee chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, says: ‘Unnecessary, complicated and technical language from salesmen needs to be stamped out to help small companies concentrate on what’s important, growing their business.’

See also: Why are UK small businesses turning to cloud solutions?