Getting People to Say “Yes”

Last month I had the pleasure of reading the book “Seven Triggers to Yes” by Mr Russell H Granger. Mr Granger says that there are seven ways to get your client to say yes to your ideas, proposal, or offer.

Briefly, these are:

Friendship - it’s easier to say yes to a friend, so before you offer anything to clients, establish rapport with them. 

Authority - people are more likely to accept the recommendation of somebody they recognize as an expert.

Consistency - clients will go with somebody who has a reputation for delivering on commitments.

Reciprocity - people feel compelled to give you something in return - after you give them something first.

Contrast - clients are always on the lookout for the better offer. Because “better” means “compared to something else”, you will need to contrast your offer against something that’s less appealing.

A reason - people say “yes” just because they have been given a reason - more often than they realize. Like the song says, “just give me a reason, just a little bit’s enough”.

Hope - when you use logic to convince your client, you’re actually offering hope (that you can provide the solution he needs).

These ideas not only jive with other theories that have been put forward about persuasion, they also work!  

Richard Bandler’s work has been quite emphatic on the power of rapport - communication and persuasion are easier once rapport has been established. My friends in development reform have always known that when relationships are okay, things go smoothly. On the other hand, when people are antagonistic even the slightest kink can become a project killer. 

Authority can come in the form of letters after your name. It can also come as a result of being a credible model. That’s why supplements, vitamins, and sports drinks use models with flat tummies, and shampoo ads have girls with long, great hair. 

Consistency relates to having a reputation for something. You might be known for finishing a job once you started it, or for keeping discussion focused on a topic, or for resolving conflict.  When you're consistent enough you own a label, a word in the customer's mind. 

Granger explains the concept of “adaptive level” to show how Contrast works. When you take a bottle of soda straight from the chiller and hold it with your bare hand it would feel cold. But if you first dipped your hand in ice water for a few minutes, then held the same bottle, the bottle would not feel as cold.  The condition of your hand before you held the soda bottle is your “adaptive level”.

If you offer somebody a 22,000.00-peso car stereo, he might say no. But if this fellow just paid 1.2 million pesos for a brand new car, he probably wouldn’t think twice about adding 22 grand for a car stereo. His condition before you offered the stereo is his adaptive level.

“Just give a reason” works best, in my experience, when I pretend to be in a hurry (and, I suppose, people have to respond fast). I tried this when I cut in a check in line at the airport. I said, “hi, please let me cut in because my boss is already in the waiting lounge” and five people obliged me.

Logic is the trigger many of us are familiar with. We try to persuade by reasoning. This is why we make concept papers, proposals (with price tags, of course), or Powerpoint presentations.  Granger says that when people say yes to logical persuasion, it is because they hope our offer would work for them.  

So if you want to convince anybody, assess your capability to squeeze all seven triggers to yes, and use as many as you can. 

Which trigger have you been using frequently?