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Tip 336: Use the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining principle. |
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Your project manager states opposition to your idea to buy brand X pens as gifts to all new hires because of the "exorbitant cost." You concede the point that the brand X pens cost more than most brands, but you point out that the new hires will feel proud that the company has lavished on them such an expensive gift on their first day on the job. Reinterpret negatives as positives. |
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Tip 337: Ask for the reasoning behind someone's counterclaim. |
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Don't argue against the wind. Let's suppose you present a plan for providing computer maintenance service to a customer who says, "It's too expensive." You respond, "Not really, when you consider the X feature." The customer listens and then responds, "But it is much more than we wanted to pay." And you say, ''Well, that may be true, but . . ." |
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You get the picturearguing over a vague assumption. What does the customer mean by expensive? What is his or her reasoning? How did the customer decide what should be a reasonable price? When you get the answers to those questions, you'll have something specific to work with. If the comment "too expensive" is based on the amount of the customer's budget, you'll know to spend your time figuring out how to help the person finance the service within that budget. If the comment is based on a comparison of your price to that of competitors, then you'll spend your time telling how your service differs from theirs. |
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Take another example: A boss says, "We can't change that policy because people would get angry." You can't deal with that unless you know the boss's reasoningwhy he or she thinks people will get angry. |
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Of course, be sure to ask for the other person's reasoning in a nondirective, nonchallenging way: "The way we set our price is to determine X, then Y, and then add 10 percent for Z. How did you set your budget figure for this service? Let's see if we're on the same wavelength, or if we're comparing apples to oranges here." |
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To argue without knowing the basis of assumptions is a shot in the dark. |
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Tip 338: Check for reasoning errors. |
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Make sure your own reasoning follows logic, and then check for errors in the other person's logic. Here are the most common reasoning faults: |
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Force-fitting an analogy. Someone uses an analogy to explain how two things are alikeand then they get carried away. "A maintenance agree- |
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