Invisible Influence: The Power to Persuade Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere

25

The Second Right Answer

Sometimes we try to get to the second right answer because the first reaction is usually not the best possible answer.

It is certainly true that your gut instinct can produce some very good instant assessments of familiar situations. But the problem is that most people will stop right there, usually without giving it a thought. They simply stop thinking. They get an idea or an answer, and they just go with it.

There is an opportunity for you to bring the person to a better answer by asking a careful question to generate more thought. Quite simply it helps them realize that there are other options and that there just may be a better way

It may sound like this:

“Marc, that’s good, especially in light of the fact the budget just got cut.” (I can see how you came to your decision.) “What other options do we have?” (I want you to come up with more ideas just in case there is an even better solution than that.)

This type of question validates their first answer, but then asks them to find more options in a specific area. Once they do this, they will come up with answers very close to what would be in their best interest, and they will feel it will be their idea.

Similar questions to generate other options include:

“What else is true?”

“If that is so, wouldn’t ___ also be true?”

“What other use could this have?”

“How can we use this to make ___ happen?”