In this short dialogue, the sales trainer (Speaker A) argues that true sales success isn’t achieved by piling up “yes” responses (the classic yes‑set technique) but by eliminating the prospect’s ability to say “no.” He acknowledges that yes‑sets can work for low‑stakes purchases like sneakers, but for high‑stakes, emotionally charged decisions—such as buying a house—the salesperson must act as a trusted guide. By demonstrating emotional intelligence, acknowledging the difficulty of the decision, and creating a safe space for the buyer to explore their true desires, the seller helps the client build confidence. This confidence, in turn, makes the client comfortable paying a premium price, because they feel the salesperson is genuinely helping them rather than pushing a product.
See, people think success in selling is about embellishing the option of yes. It's not. It's about destroying the option of no. Yes. If you destroy—
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Phil, say that again.
Success in selling is not about embellishing the option of yes. It's about destroying the option of no.
But what about the yes-set closes? And what about all the, you know, get them to say yes, yes, yes 9 times in a row and then you got them? Ah, geez.
What year are we in? What year? Thank you. Thank you. And you know, there's a time and a place for that, right? If what you are is You're in the— you're in Foot Locker and you're trying to get somebody to buy the sneakers. Yeah. And it's like, why, you want a pair of fresh kicks? Yes. And, and, and you want to look good at the— good, good at the— you want to be fly, right? Right. Yeah, yeah. And, and, and you want her to like you? Yeah. Like, like, sure, for selling a pair of $90 kicks, fine. But if you're asking somebody to go through the disruption, which it is— like, buying and selling houses is hard. It is. And there's lots of times you can jump off the wagon. You've got to be brave enough to be able to say, my job is to help somebody through this decision-making process. And this is what— back to the point I made earlier, is if you're a pro in this and you hold the emotional intelligence to say, I get this is complicated, I get this is tough, I get that this isn't the easiest decision of you being able to make, but it's an important decision and I'm going to ride it with you, not by telling you what to do, but creating the space and asking you the questions to help you find confidence on what you truly want to do. People are like, you're my girl, you're my guy. Like, we're going to do this, I'm going to do it together, and they're going to be happy to write your check out. They're going to be happy at the end of it when, when you ask for more money than somebody else, they're going to be like, I get it now.
