David Sandler made it an axiom in his brilliant sales methodology when he taught “Never Answer An Unasked Question.”  Although this poster places it in the familiar scenario of a car lot, the application of this principle extends itself into many aspects of the leader’s interactions with his/her followers.

The poster entitled Make Them Ask arrives at the same conclusion from another direction.  However, this poster reminds the leader that s/he needs to be careful to make sure that a question is being asked before responding.  And even then s/he might decide to not respond with a statement but rather another question – gaining more insight into the motivation of the follower’s question.

In the poster, the person looking to buy a car is making a statement but might only be processing out loud.  The sales person knows his own propensity so well that he has taped his mouth shut so as not to launch into all the reasons why the price isn’t that high after all – beginning a counter productive argument with the buyer.

How much better to simply come back with a phrase like “Tell me more.”  After all, a question was never asked.

Categories: Influence

Tags: influence