soft sell: Meaning and Definition of

soft' sell'

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a method of advertising or selling that is quietly persuasive, subtle, and indirect (opposed to hard sell).

soft-sell

Pronunciation: (sôft'sel', soft'-), [key]
— v., adj. -sold, -sell•ing,
—v.t.
  1. to promote (a product, service, etc.) using indirect or gentle persuasion: an advertising campaign to soft-sell a new perfume.
—adj.
  1. (of a sales technique) quietly or indirectly persuasive: a soft-sell approach to marketing.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.