In this instructional monologue, the speaker—who identifies as a behavioral‑psychology enthusiast—explains a sales‑closing tactic that flips the common “rate your interest on a 1‑to‑10 scale” question on its head. The traditional approach asks the prospect for a rating, then the seller asks how to reach a 10, which often backfires and pushes the prospect’s rating lower because people naturally resist direct suggestions. The speaker outlines the psychological basis for this resistance and proposes a reverse‑psychology method: after the prospect gives a high number (e.g., 6‑7), the seller deliberately suggests a lower number (e.g., 3‑4) based on observed body language, asking why the prospect chose a higher rating. This prompts the prospect’s innate tendency to move in the opposite direction, leading them to raise their rating even higher (often to 8‑9). The talk includes concrete dialogue examples, contrasts the two approaches, and emphasizes that the reverse technique is simple yet dramatically effective for closing sales.
Chapters
So I love behavioral psychology. That's my little hobby on the side. And I wanted to share a sales technique. I know all of us have to sell, we all have to market, we all have to sell. Also, I want to share a little behavioral technique you can use in sales. And it's a dramatically effective way for actually closing. Closing sales. There's a traditional method. Perhaps you've used a variant of this. If we were in a sales negotiation or something, and you're the prospect, I'm the vendor, I would say so. After I do my pitch, I'd say, so where do you think we stand on a 1 to 10 scale? And you come back and say, I'm feeling a six, maybe a seven. And then I've been trained to say, what do I have to do to make this a ten? And wow you. How do we get it up there together? Human tendency is when you're in a position, I'm in a different position. If I suggest you go somewhere, you're more likely to go the opposite way. That's really me, like saying, you smoke, you shouldn't smoke, you're killing yourself. And you're like, screw you. And you light one blow up in my face. Right? That's the natural human response, is to resist suggestion. It's the natural habit. Yet in the sales mode, so many of us say, well, you're only a six or seven. What do I need to do to make you feel great? It doesn't work. It actually moves people down in the scale, like, oh, here comes the big manipulation. Screw you, I'm a four. Now here's the method that does work. When a prospect goes to me, comes to me and says, and we negotiate. And I say, so where do you think you stand on a 1 to 10? They say, I think I'm a 6 or 7. My response is, that's kind of interesting. From your body language, the way you're looking at me, I was actually sensing you were at a three or four. Why did you pick a number so high? I pick a number lower than the one they set. And now their natural tendency is to push up, to go the opposite way I go. So when I say to customers, I think, from your buy language, the way we were talking, I really thought you were lower. 3 or 4. Why did you pick a number so high? They say, well, I was thinking of six or seven because of this and this and this. And they've primed themselves to go higher many times in those negotiations. They say, you know what I think about it? I think I'M more like an 8 or maybe even a 9 on proceeding with this project. It's this reverse technique. It's that simple.
