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A sweet but poisonous MAYBE

I have seen too many sales professionals and business owners who said they have many leads that postpone their decisions.


They often hear, "Great idea! Let's talk later."


It causes a lot of undue work chasing prospects and getting them back on the call.


Often to no avail.


Have you heard something like this before?


  • Now it's not a good time. Let's connect next month.
  • I'll call you when I have the next issue happening.
  • Let me think about it and get back to you next week.
  • I'll bring this to the board, and let's see what they say.
  • The next opportunity for your promotion is in August.
  • You can get a raise when the project is completed.
  • You can get what you're asking after 2 years.


Sounds hopeful, doesn’t it?


The reason to be inspired and optimistic is the promise.

It's the promise of a positive event in the future.


You were given sweet hope so you could feel good about it like it were an ALMOST-A-YES.


When you are given hope, know that it's not a future YES.


You are actually given a sweet but highly poisonous MAYBE.


Now, it's your choice to accept it as is or not.


This is where the negotiation starts.


As negotiation pros say, there's a budget in every negotiation.

The budget includes time, effort, money, and emotions.


When you are given a MAYBE, you have to spend your budget in all 4 forms of it.


  • Time, because you have to wait,
  • Effort, because you have to prepare for a future event,
  • Money that you're missing and the cost of extra work,
  • But most importantly, you are now on a huge emotional rollercoaster.


At first, you are hopeful and optimistic. Life is promising!


Later, you are in doubt if it's a suitable time to bring it up again?


Then you bring it up just to find out your request is not so welcomed.


Now you are concerned but still hopeful when you find out your message has been ignored or pushed out again.


You are unsure where you are in this deal, so you ask yourself, "What's going on?"


To your disappointment, they seem to be ghosting you.


Now you regret you've been tricked so easily.


Reality hits hard.


Your self-esteem goes down, and you become resentful and skeptical.


Finally, a sweet MAYBE tastes like it should - like a bitter NO.


Sounds familiar?


Those who dare to ask have eaten this bitter pill before.


It sure feels awful to realize you were tricked.


But it's good!


Because now assumptions are gone.


You are free from all the hopes and optimistic dreams.


You can stop wasting your negotiation budget.


You can make an adequate decision about what to do.


Now, you can determine your position on the negotiation map and do something about it.


You can now address a MAYBE as if you heard a NO.


No emotions, no delays, no doubts.


Want to know the 5 reasons people say NO and what to do when you hear it?


Join the next Negotiation Office Hour: https://bit.ly/negotiation-office-hour


- Vlad, your Business Relationships Coach


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