YES or NO

Have you heard or said this lately: “Yeah-no, yeah” or “No, yeah-no.”?

Have you noticed this tendency in our verbal communication?

Wavering insecurely between “yes” and “no”, we’ve begun bonding these two words together into a single expression. When we want to say “yes”, we attach a denial onto it: “Yeah, no, we can do that.”

Often we don’t state a simple “no” either; we get around it with a most doubtful qualifier, not unlike: “No, yeah, I can’t.”

A stranger to the nuances of the English language could be excused for becoming confused by all these positives metamorphosing into negatives and back again. Sometimes, “yeah, no, yeah” seems to be used just to fill the void of an uncomfortable silence. But why are we doing this?

Have we become so uncertain within ourselves and of ourselves that we are finally, unknowingly verbalizing our fear and lack of confidence in ourselves? “Yeah-No?” “No-Yeah?” “Yeah-No-Yeah?”

In selling, uncertainty and fear are two elements we confront and deal with on a daily and sometimes an hourly basis. Yet these days even the most confident of us tends to stumble over the finality and decisiveness of verbalizing a simple “yes” or “no”.

As salespeople we can’t afford to be confused about what it is we are saying in front of (or asking of) our clients and prospects or anyone else for that matter.

Change the way you think, feel, and speak. If you hear yourself speaking using this confusion of words, pull yourself up, become aware and change.

Become clear about what it is you want to say before you open your mouth.

Make a decision about what it is you want to say before you say it, but ultimately make a decision not to be undecided, and you will find that your prospects and clients will begin to make some decisions too.

Sell without Regret

Michael Tate: Sales Director International – NRS Media 

A foundation employee during its initial five year start-up phase Michael Tate has returned to NRS Media after 15 years of working internationally to take up tenure as the company’s Sales Director in its International office.

Michael has a vast knowledge of effective media use, advertising and advertising sales management built over the last 25 years working with some of the world’s largest TV and radio groups. Based in San Francisco for over 10 years, he also worked ‘client-side’ in a National Media appointment for the Toyota Motor Corporation in Australia; coordinating all the media buying decisions for the auto giant helping Toyota become the No.1 seller of motor vehicles.

Over the last decade Michael has advised all types of companies around the world on best effect advertising via over 3500 workshops attended by over 45,000 business owners and managers, generating over $60,000,000 in direct sales advertising revenue.

He is a highly sought after key-note speaker and advertising sales trainer at major industry bodies like the Radio Advertising Bureau, the Texas Broadcasters Association, and the Oregon Association of Broadcasters. Tate has successfully worked with advertising sales managers, their staff and clients in 12 countries including the USA, UK, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines and Australia.

You can find out more about NRS Media here or view Michael’s Linked In profile here.

Michael Tate has joined the team of Radio Today with weekly insights