When my children were little, if I said ’do you want vegetables with your meal?’, they’d say NO.
I know… amazing, right?
And why did they say no?
Well, partly because they didn’t want them.
But also because I gave them ‘no’ as an option. After all, in effect, I asked ‘do you want vegetables with your meal – yes or no?’
So, we changed the question to ‘At lunch, would you prefer peas or carrots or both?’
They now have three options:
- Peas
- Carrots
- Both
And they didn’t have the option
- No
Now while I know you’ll be delighted to hear about my kids being full of Vitamin C, how is this relevant to you?
Well, if you want someone to say ‘yes’, don’t give them ‘no’ as an option.
And you do that by offering them choices:
- Would you prefer we did X or Y?
- When would you like us to do this – today or tomorrow?
- Who is the best person to help us with this – Mrs X or Mr Y?
- Where shall we have our next meeting – here or in a coffee shop?
- Etc
Much more likely to work!
Given all this, I was about to ask you… will you use this tip today?
No – scratch that. Instead…
When will you first use this Tip today – in your first 121, or your first meeting?