The Alchemy Of Communication (YESs Turn Into NOs, and NOs Turn Into YESs

Jul '23 in General.

"Get them to say yes 7 times and you are guaranteed to close a deal"

"Use tie-downs throughout your presentation to lock in the prospect"

Ah, the classic yes-momentum.

I tried this and it landed me in the sales hell. I become the person I was afraid of a salesperson who backs the prospect into the corner and triggers sales resistance.

I could see prospects getting uncomfortable with the tactics, so uncomfortable they would just say yes to get rid of me.

This resulted in me booking more meetings but having a low show-up rate, more maybes at the end of sales calls, and less predictable outcomes. The Yeses would magically turn into ghosts. I did not like this sort of alchemy.

After talking to a few other salespeople I started to see this pattern, I was not the only one struggling with this. I had to make a change

I then came across this book called "Never Split The Difference" by Chris Voss, and it taught me that going for nos will get you more results. At first, I didn't believe it, how can Nos turn into yeses?

Until I tried it and it was amazing how effective it was at building rapport, getting people to open up to me and ultimately getting them to give me what I wanted (Time or money). It was alchemy, Nos would turn into yeses in real time.

Not only did this help me book and close more but it also helped me eliminate ghosting

The reason why going for nos works wonders is because it gives prospects a sense of control and lowers their guard because they feel safe.

When people feel safe, they are more open to new ideas. Another reason why going for no work is that it triggers the rebellious child inside of humans. That's why, the "This is a cold call, do you wanna hang up" works well.

Turn all your yes-oriented questions into no oriented questions:

"Would you be open to a Zoom meeting" turns into "Would it be absolutely ridiculous if we explored this further over Zoom"

"Do you agree" turns into "Do you disagree"

"Would this help your business if we..." turns into "Would it hurt your business if we..."

"Is this a good time" turns into "Is this a bad point"

Try this and watch your results go up if you think this would never work.

if you disagree with me in the comments

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