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“I can’t afford it.”

Here’s what to do when you hear that almost instinctive reaction to most offers, which is either “No,” or “Not now,” or “Later.” They all seem like reasonable and safe responses because they protect the person from getting hurt or being otherwise negatively impacted if they make a bad choice.

However, if you use this phrase you can open doors to a new level of thought.

It might sound like this:

Employee: “I can’t afford to open a 401(k)!”

Manager: “That’s exactly why you should. You need to pay yourself something. At the moment you’re working to pay the mortgage lender, the banks, the car dealership, the IRS, and what’s left over for you? You’re worth something.”

Or this:

Dan: “Cool smartphone! I can’t afford one of those.”

Jason: “That’s probably why you should get one. How are you keeping in contact with clients when you’re not at your computer? It always takes ages for you to get back by e-mail when you’re out of the office, so how much business are you losing? It would be much cheaper than buying an iPad to take around with you.”

Phil: “I can’t afford to have my lawn aerated.”

Lawn service: “That’s exactly why you should pay us to do that. You’ll save yourself the cost of re-sodding the entire lawn next year if you do.”

There is a lot going on in those exchanges but consider the highlights:

  • They use the concern as the new frame for why they should buy now.
  • A new piece of potentially face-saving information is presented. So if the person is “proud,” ...

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