Andy Black
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I used to have a friend who sold drugs.
The police were extremely worried when a large batch of drugs were stolen from his car.
... until he told them he was selling laxatives that week.
They found that highly amusing.
Anyway, my friend was a very good salesman (selling to busy doctors in understaffed hospitals is quite a feat.)
Over a few pints every weekend he'd tell me stories and sales tips he'd learned.
I wish I'd paid more attention, but back then I didn't realise that selling was a key skill for all of us, even if our job title didn't include the word "Sales".
I can't remember a single nugget of gold, except for this one, and only because it came with a story to remind me.
When you're selling anything to anyone (products, services, even just your point of view), they're normally going to come back at you with some reasoned objection - some reason why what you just said is wrong, isn't going to work, or doesn't apply to them.
You can listen politely, hear them out, and then reply:
Yes, but (your response).
The problem with Yes, but is that it sounds an awful lot like you weren't actually listening to them, but that you were just waiting for your turn to talk again.
BUT is a powerful negative word.
It creates a big BUTTRESS between you and the result you want.
The conversation stops immediately you say Yes, but and you might as well both continue talking with your arms crossed.
Instead of saying:
Try saying:
It's hard work doing this right.
You have to listen to what they said, work out why they said it, make your point by acknowledging what they said, and then ADD to the conversation POSITIVELY.
The way I always remember this tip?
My friend told me they were doing a role-play to practice Yes, AND.
They sat in a circle and took it in turns to say something inflammatory and hard to agree with.
The next person had to stand up and say "Yes, and" then try to put a positive spin on what was said whilst getting their point across.
A fantastic example of how NOT to do this was when someone said:
Yes, and ...
BOLLOCKS
Don't do it like that.
The police were extremely worried when a large batch of drugs were stolen from his car.
... until he told them he was selling laxatives that week.
They found that highly amusing.
Anyway, my friend was a very good salesman (selling to busy doctors in understaffed hospitals is quite a feat.)
Over a few pints every weekend he'd tell me stories and sales tips he'd learned.
I wish I'd paid more attention, but back then I didn't realise that selling was a key skill for all of us, even if our job title didn't include the word "Sales".
I can't remember a single nugget of gold, except for this one, and only because it came with a story to remind me.
When you're selling anything to anyone (products, services, even just your point of view), they're normally going to come back at you with some reasoned objection - some reason why what you just said is wrong, isn't going to work, or doesn't apply to them.
You can listen politely, hear them out, and then reply:
Yes, but (your response).
The problem with Yes, but is that it sounds an awful lot like you weren't actually listening to them, but that you were just waiting for your turn to talk again.
BUT is a powerful negative word.
It creates a big BUTTRESS between you and the result you want.
The conversation stops immediately you say Yes, but and you might as well both continue talking with your arms crossed.
Instead of saying:
Yes, BUT
Try saying:
Yes, AND
It's hard work doing this right.
You have to listen to what they said, work out why they said it, make your point by acknowledging what they said, and then ADD to the conversation POSITIVELY.
The way I always remember this tip?
My friend told me they were doing a role-play to practice Yes, AND.
They sat in a circle and took it in turns to say something inflammatory and hard to agree with.
The next person had to stand up and say "Yes, and" then try to put a positive spin on what was said whilst getting their point across.
A fantastic example of how NOT to do this was when someone said:
"Margaret Thatcher was the best thing to happen to Britain".
The next guy stood up and said:
Yes, and ...
BOLLOCKS
Don't do it like that.
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