“If I can pick you up and drop you off at home, then will you be able to be ready for seven pm?” The same principle can be used when someone is looking for you to reduce your price in line with a competitive offer. “If I can match that price for you, then would you be happy to place the order with me today?” In both of these scenarios, you are stil

By introducing a future scenario with the words, “How would you feel if...?” you allow the other person to time travel to that moment and imagine the emotions that would be triggered at that point. Choosing moments that trigger both positive and negative emotions will allow you to create a truth worth changing for.

When it comes to the timing, there are literally dozens of moments that you can ask for a referral. If you take the time to consider all the examples of “good times,” they will all have one thing in common—the other person is happy.

One of the biggest reasons your ideas fail to get heard is that others tell you that they just don’t have the time to consider them. By using the preface, “When would be a good time to...?” you prompt the other person to subconsciously assume that there will be a good time and that no is not an option.

Asking people to decide for themselves who they are with the Magic Words “two types of people” prompts a near-instant decision. The second someone hears, “There are two types of people in this world,” the little voice in their head immediately wonders which one they are, and they wait with bated breath to hear the choices.

The real world tells us that people will work far harder to avoid a potential loss than they will to achieve a potential gain. Greater than that is the fact that the more contrast you can create between where somebody does not want to be and where they hope to be, the more likely you are to get people to move.

A simple change of wording puts you in control. Swap the phrase, “Do you have any questions?” with the improved, “What questions do you have for me?”

You meet with someone to introduce them to your ideas and look to gain their commitment. They kind of like you and your ideas, but they are not so sure, and the meeting is coming to a close. You thank them for their time, pack your things up and head for the door. At this point you could create a Columbo moment and turn back to them with the words,

The reason they cannot use the excuses is because you have been bold enough to start the conversation in a way that suggests they were about to use the very excuse they had prepared: by prefacing your question with, “I’m guessing you haven’t got around to...”