Yes, and…

The “Yes, and…” rule is the most basic rule of improv theater. In improv, it simply means that whatever has been established by your partners, you must agree to and move forward.

I found this is a very good rule for life, in sales and in professional meetings in general. In life it makes often for better experiences to simply go with the flow for example when visiting foreign countries with different cultures.

For sales it simply makes you to listen to your client and go along with their ideas and needs. Yes, and… facilitates the conversation and takes the control (for a moment) out of your and into your client’s hands.

In meetings, especially when the objective is to find a solution to a problem, it is too easy to immediately shoot down any idea at the first flaw. It’s often worthwhile to go along with an idea and see what parts could work. Often ideas are”reverse-engineered” solutions that cover the last 90% but fail at the first step. Other times, if you let the person with the idea walk you through their process until the end, they may notice there are too many obstacles and you avoid a long discussion. It seems counterintuitive, but “Yes, and…” can help finding solutions quicker.