Gaining Agreement

Gaining agreement is the last stage of a good ‘persuasive’ meeting. Persuasion is not solely about getting a 'yes' to your question at the end of a presentation, telephone call or conversation.

In order to reach a point where you can ask for agreement or commitment you must have gained the other person’s or peoples’ attention and understood their priorities in order to present your ideas effectively. Some people find it difficult to ask for what they want as it feels rude or overly direct. However, if you put more effort and skill into the earlier part of the persuasive process, then getting agreement to the next stage requires less effort and less skill.

Elements covered:

• Introduction to gaining agreement
• Assertiveness techniques
• Essential questioning skills
• Testing for agreement
• Understanding agreement hurdles
• Handling agreement hurdles

Competency addressed:
This module is designed to contribute to the PRE4M™ Persuasive Influencer Competency at the Foundation and Advanced levels.

At the end of this module learners will understand how to:

• Listens to other’s views and responds appropriately
• Uses a logical structure to present own views
• Demonstrates an understanding of other’s needs and views
• Asks questions to understand objections and offers appropriate counter arguments
• Presents benefits rather than solely features of a proposal
• Builds a strong positive image of own ability and expertise
• Proposes and seeks win/win solutions
• Anticipates likely resistance and prepares appropriate responses
• Demonstrates consistency of approach, evidence of expertise and delivery on commitments
• Gains agreement to propositions which are mutually beneficial