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When you want to say things that excite people
People are more likely to say “yes” when they see it’s in their interest to do so. This means it’s important to:
1. Know what’s important to them; and
2. Align your proposal to this.
This sounds obvious; but most people don’t do this well. Or consistently. Or ever. If they were better at it, you wouldn’t hear such phrases as:
- Why should I do that?
- It’s too expensive.
- This meeting is tedious. Why am I here?
- I haven’t time to respond to this.
- I know what you want me to do, but it’s not a priority to me right now.
Be Benefits-Based, not Features-Focused
To engage people, focus on what benefits them. The best way to define what I mean by a “benefit” is to contrast it with its opposite, a “feature”.
A “feature” ...
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