To Agree or Not To Agree...

[Michael Bangs]

Interacting and communicating with other people seems to be a frequent activity for an average person. I have also noticed that there seems to be little 'formal' training on how to be successful at it. This training would be very useful in day to day interactions with family, friends, co-workers, strangers... and of course your customers. Read the excerpt below and decide how this can help you improve your daily human interactions.


When you don’t agree, rather than argue, you must try to harmonize. Finding out why the customer is in disagreement with you, is the key to harmonizing. Then and only then can you determine who is correct (without arguing). Understanding and repeating may be part of the process, but will not lead to harmony – and may be a negative, since it leads no-place. Disagreeing will lead to a lost sale. And ignoring is the root word of ignorant. Typical sales manipulation is to ignore -- and it doesn't work anymore. Any disagreement -- whether in a sales presentation, a customer relationship, a friendship, or even in a marriage -- has with it a goal to end in harmony. Make that your goal.
–JEFFREY GITOMER, excerpted from The Little Red Book of Sales Answers