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Say Yes!

Laust Lauridsen, MD
4 min readNov 24, 2023

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A large Danish company once hired me to help develop and deliver a five-day program for senior commercial managers. The theme was “Making Strategies Happen”.

On the first day, a professor at a business school taught about strategy. The next two days were dedicated to effective project management. The rest of the time the participants spent with me, focusing on making others follow.

On the third day, I met them in a big room after dinner for the “Yes Crash Course.” Through a presentation based on neuroscience and a series of exercises, I kind of brainwashed them to say “Yes!” on my command. Influenced them to make new circuits in the brain and reinforced habitual learning by repetition. Say yes!

The next morning, during breakfast, I unexpectedly showed up to introduce the day’s program. My opening statement to this group of commercial leaders was that I found sales extremely boring. They looked up in astonishment. After a pause to allow for reactions, I continued: “What fascinates me is buying”.

Buying is the ultimate outcome of any sales process, whether it is a product, service or experience. My rationale was that understanding the psychology of the buying process will make you a much better seller.

The turning point in a buying process is when you accept investing time, energy or money to receive back something of perceived value. You engage in an exchange of goods and possibilities. Say yes!

“Why say no? No is closing. End of story. Say Yes! And open to adventure, growth and life.” (From the “Yes Crash Course”)

Making others follow starts with them buying your idea. Their positive response is seen in the change of behavior, now driven by a desire to get or do whatever you propose or display. When it comes to that, we are all buyers and sellers of ideas. Say Yes!

Behavior is how we react or respond to a particular situation or stimulus. Most behavior is unconscious. We react more than we respond to life. The context we are in heavily influences what we think, feel and do. This makes it obvious to use design to influence behavior. And also to make the right choice as easy, fun and rewarding as possible. Say Yes!

The human brain developed at a time of history where resources were scarce. The ability to…

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Laust Lauridsen, MD
Laust Lauridsen, MD

Written by Laust Lauridsen, MD

Help leaders and teams go beyond to transform and perform. Writer, speaker and facilitator.

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