Get People To Agree By Saying NO Ep 295

Alex Hormozi delves into effective sales techniques, emphasizing the power of question phrasing to influence customer agreement. He distinguishes between yes-based, neutral, and no-based questions, crediting Chris Voss and Jordan Belfort for their insights on negotiation and sales closure strategies. Hormozi explains that no-based questions, which make prospects feel safe and autonomous, can paradoxically lead to more affirmative responses. He suggests incorporating no-based phrasing into key sales milestones to enhance customer engagement and agreement, especially when they experience decision fatigue. Hormozi's approach aims to leverage psychological tendencies for successful sales outcomes.

• People often feel more comfortable rejecting an offer or saying no due to a psychological safety net.
• This resistance can be a barrier in sales situations.

"And so the reason and the psychology behind this is that people feel safer saying no."

This quote from Alex Ramozi suggests that the natural inclination for people to say no is a psychological defense mechanism, which needs to be understood and addressed in sales strategies.

• Discussion on methods to acquire and retain customers.
• Sharing experiences and lessons learned in the process.

"Welcome to the game, where we talk about how to get more customers, how to make more per customer, and how to keep them longer, and the many failures and lessons we have learned along the way. I hope you enjoy and subscribe."

The unnamed speaker introduces the podcast, setting the stage for a conversation on effective sales strategies and customer management.

• Alex Ramozi introduces himself as the founder of multiple companies.
• He aims to share insights on how to effectively sell products or services.

"What's going on, everyone? Alex Ramozi here, founder of Jim launch Allen Prestige Labs and owner of a couple other companies. And today, I'm going to talk to you about it. How to sell some stuff."

Alex Ramozi positions himself as an authority in the field of sales and business, promising to deliver valuable advice on the topic.

• Sales questions can be categorized into mining questions and agreement questions.
• Mining questions aim to gather information from the prospect.
• Agreement questions seek to build consensus and move towards a sale.

"And so, in a sales process, you have some questions that are going to be mining questions, that's trying to extract information from the prospect. And the remainder of the questions are questions to get agreement."

Alex Ramozi explains the two main types of questions used in a sales conversation, emphasizing their different objectives.

• Sales questions can be yes-based, neutral, or negatively inclined.
• The tone and type of question can influence the likelihood of agreement.

"And then if you get enough agreements, it's going to be natural that they're going to want to move forward working with you. Now, the way that you structure these questions, I would say that you have yes based questions, you have neutral questions, and then you have negatively inclined questions."

Alex Ramozi highlights the importance of structuring questions in a way that naturally leads to agreement and progression in the sales process.

• Chris Voss, author of "Never Split the Difference," has influenced Alex Ramozi's approach to questioning.
• Understanding the impact of different types of questions on a prospect's response.

"First time I heard about this from Chris Voss. He's the guy who does the. He wrote the book, never split the difference. Really interesting stuff."

Alex Ramozi credits Chris Voss and his book as a source of knowledge on the art of questioning in negotiation and sales.

• Yes-based questions seek direct affirmation, while neutral questions aim for a softer agreement.
• Neutral questions are easier for the prospect to agree with, as they require less commitment.

"A yes based question would be like, sound great? Yes, that sounds great, right? A neutral type of question would be like, fair enough. Does that sound fair? Does that sound reasonable to you?"

Alex Ramozi differentiates between direct yes-based questions and more approachable neutral questions, suggesting that the latter may be more effective in gaining incremental agreement.

• Alex Ramozi discusses sales techniques and emphasizes the importance of making concessions to facilitate agreement.
• He highlights how using the phrase "fair enough" helps in gaining the customer's agreement by leveraging the principle of reciprocity.
• Alex Ramozi credits Jordan Belfort for the "fair enough" close, which he finds particularly effective.
• The technique involves acknowledging the customer's perspective and then steering towards closing the sale.
• Alex Ramozi observes that many sales teachers are naturally talented salespeople who have gained expertise through high volume and experience.

"And then you can go to close the sale. And if you've heard any of my past sales stuff, one of my favorite closes which I got from Jordan Belfort is fair enough."

This quote outlines Alex Ramozi's preferred closing technique in sales, which he adopted from Jordan Belfort. The "fair enough" close is a strategic way to gain the customer's agreement by appearing reasonable and accommodating.

"I just love this close so much, because it's like, fair enough. You make a concession. Fair enough."

Alex Ramozi expresses his enthusiasm for the "fair enough" close, explaining that making a concession creates a sense of fairness and reciprocity, which makes it difficult for the other person to refuse.

"And so many times, people are like, well, they made a concession, and I'm a reciprocal human being. It's very hard for me to deny this request. And so, yes, I do believe it's fair. And then you say, boom, then let's move forward."

Here, Alex Ramozi explains the psychological effect of making concessions. People feel compelled to reciprocate when a concession is made, which facilitates agreement and progression towards closing the sale.

• Alex Ramozi reflects on the natural sales ability of those who teach sales techniques.
• He notes that natural-born salespeople usually have an inclination towards sales, which is honed by experience and high-volume practice.
• Alex Ramozi suggests that while some have a natural talent for sales, others can still become great salespeople through increased practice and repetition.
• He introduces the concept of "no base statements" as a method to counteract opposition in sales conversations.
• The psychology behind this method is that people feel more comfortable saying no, as it allows them to retain their autonomy and reduce decision fatigue.

"All the people that I know who teach sales are natural born salesmen, which is interesting, right. They're natural born salesmen."

This quote reflects Alex Ramozi's observation that many sales trainers have an innate talent for sales, which is further developed through their experiences.

"It doesn't mean that anyone else can't become a great salesman. It just means you might have to have more reps to get there."

Alex Ramozi clarifies that while natural talent can be advantageous, it is not a prerequisite for success in sales. With sufficient practice, anyone can become proficient.

"And so the reason and the psychology behind this, per my understanding, and it makes complete sense to me, at least, is that people feel safer saying no."

Alex Ramozi discusses the psychological comfort people find in saying no, which preserves their sense of control and autonomy, especially when they are experiencing decision fatigue.

• No-based questions are a strategic approach to encourage agreement by framing questions where the answer "no" implies a "yes" to the proposal.
• This method is beneficial because people often feel less vulnerable when they say "no" and can be more inclined to agree to something indirectly.
• Alex Ramozi references Richard Schwartz's technique of using no-based questions as an upsell strategy, which proved to be highly effective.

"But if you phrased your questions properly, you can get people to say yes by saying no, which is one of the most powerful sales tactics."

This quote explains the essence of no-based questions in sales, highlighting the counterintuitive strategy of framing questions where "no" leads to a "yes".

"Hey, you don't want anything else, do you? No, I don't want anything else. And by doing that, they got 95% of people to take an upsell."

Alex Ramozi cites a specific example of a no-based question used by Richard Schwartz to successfully increase upsell acceptance among customers.

• No-based questions are crafted by using phrases like "Would you be opposed to," "Would it be completely unreasonable," or "Would it be completely out of left field."
• These lead-ins set the stage for the respondent to say "no," which, due to the question's construction, means they are agreeing to the proposition.
• Alex Ramozi illustrates the concept using a personal example of deciding where to go for dinner with his wife.

"Would you be opposed to moving forward today? Would it be completely unreasonable for us to get started at the end of this conversation. Would it be completely out of left field for me to say that we should start working together today?"

These examples demonstrate how to structure no-based questions in a business context, aiming to secure agreement on moving forward with a service or partnership.

"If I say, hey, babe, you want to go to cheesecake factory? She might be like, well, no, I don't want to go to cheesecake factory, right? Or like, I'm not really sure right now. If I switched that and I said, babe, would you be against going to cheesecake factory? Well, I'm not against going to Chicha factory."

Alex Ramozi uses a relatable scenario to contrast a direct question with a no-based question, showing how the latter can steer the conversation towards the desired outcome.

• Yes-based questions directly seek affirmation but can be harder for people to agree to due to the vulnerability of saying "yes."
• No-based questions, by contrast, are a softer approach that can lead to the same affirmative outcome without putting the respondent on the spot.

"And if I say, hey, you excited to move forward today? That's a yes, right? That's harder to get someone to say."

This quote compares a yes-based question with a no-based one, emphasizing the difficulty in getting an affirmative response with the former approach.

• Alex Ramozi extends an invitation to business owners interested in growing their businesses to visit acquisition.com for potential assistance.
• The mention of acquisition.com serves as a call-to-action for business owners aiming to scale their operations.

"If you are a business owner that has a big old business and wants to get to a much bigger business, going to 5100 million dollars plus, we would love to talk to you."

This quote is a direct invitation to business owners, suggesting that acquisition.com can help them achieve significant growth.

"And if you like that or would like to hear more about it, go to acquisition.com. You can apply anywhere on the page and talk to one of our team and see if we can help you get there."

Alex Ramozi provides a clear next step for interested business owners, guiding them to acquisition.com to explore opportunities for growth assistance.

• Discusses the effectiveness of using psychology in sales to get agreement.
• Emphasizes the importance of how people feel when saying "yes" (vulnerable) versus "no" (safe).
• Suggests rephrasing key questions in sales conversations to be "no" oriented to ease agreement.
• Recommends using "no" based questions, especially when a prospect is hesitant or at decision fatigue.

And so this is really interesting because what I find, because there's lots of literature on getting people to say lots of yeses and trial closes and things like that throughout the sales process. But in my mind, these are all still ways of getting agreement, which is the goal.

This quote explains the ultimate goal of sales techniques is to gain agreement from the prospect, regardless of the method used.

Saying no makes them feel safe and leveraging that.

This quote highlights the psychological aspect of feeling safe when saying "no," which can be leveraged in sales to ease the process of getting an agreement.

Now, that being said, it doesn't mean every single question you have to ask has to be a no based question.

This quote clarifies that while "no" based questions can be useful, they do not need to be used exclusively in all sales interactions.

But I think if you can rephrase a couple of the key milestone questions that you have in your sales conversations, or if you feel like you're kind of closer to the edge with someone leaning towards a no base question, I think is something that natural salesmen do well automatically.

This quote suggests that salespeople who are adept naturally tend to rephrase critical questions towards a "no" orientation to facilitate agreement, especially when the sales conversation is at a crucial point.

All of these are still ways to get questions.

This quote implies that various techniques in sales, including the use of "no" based questions, are strategies to elicit responses that lead to a sale.

• Alex Ramozi mentions adjusting sales scripts from a "fair enough close" to "no based phrasing."
• Indicates that "no based phrasing" can be more effective, particularly when prospects are fatigued.
• Decision fatigue can lead prospects to agree just to conclude the interaction, which can influence the timing of using "yes" or "no" based questions.

And so I think that in some of my sales scripts right now, we're going to be shifting from. Fair enough, close, which is so wired in my brain, from doing it so many times, to some no based phrasing, because it's easier to get agreement with prospects, especially even if they're kind of fatigued or at the end of the day, which is when people are less likely to want to say yes to things counterexample.

This quote discusses the intention to modify sales scripts to incorporate "no based phrasing" as a strategy to improve agreement rates, particularly when prospects are experiencing fatigue.

• Differentiates between questions aimed at extracting information and those designed to secure agreement on milestones.
• The discussed sales techniques are specifically for achieving agreements, not for information gathering.
• Concludes with the hope that the audience finds the discussion on phrasing behind questions valuable.

Depends on the size of the purchase. But anyways, I hope this was valuable for you in terms of phrasing behind the questions. Obviously, this is not for mining based questions where you're trying to extract information from someone and to better understand this is really where you're trying to get agreements towards milestones to work together.

This quote explains that the phrasing techniques discussed are meant for questions that lead to agreements on milestones within the sales process, rather than for questions that are meant to gather information.