People hate to say “no” to other people. It seems rude. There is less stress by saying “no,” but they will say “no” in more subtle ways.

The versions of saying “no” in a polite way?

— I am busy right now.

— Let me get back to you.

— Let’s talk about this later.

— I have other priorities I need to focus on now.

— Get back to me in a few weeks.

— Now is not the right time.

— Someone else handles that for me.

— Let me talk to my accountant and I’ll get back to you.

There is less stress by saying no in an indirect way. They don’t want to embarrass us.

When they say “no’ in a direct way, notice how quick the decision is made. 

What is the solution? Make our first statements interesting. 

There is less stress by saying no, but there is less resistance to say no when we say something interesting.

And we must say something interesting from the start. There is no time to work up to it. People live busy lives. People manage their time by eliminating things they are not interested in. We don’t want to be one of those things. 

Then how do we start a conversation with our prospects? Ice breakers.

— Most people want to retire early. So, what is your plan?

— Everybody says they hate their jobs? What about you?

— Everybody knows work interferes with our week. How would you like to spend your week?

— There is an old saying that Network Marketing is all about making a decision and sticking with it. How do you feel about it?

— If you’re like me, you want to wake up every morning and not worry about going to work. How do you feel about it?

There is less stress by saying no, but there is more fun by saying something interesting and watching our prospects get engaged.