Advice from AllBusiness.com’s Sales Advisor Keith Rosen.

Keith Rosen: Let’s say you have to deliver a tough message, let’s say you have to bring up something that might be a little bit uncomfortable. Now most of the time, you could bring it and, once delivered, something negative, if often falls on deaf ears. Sometimes, these tough messages, people have a reaction to. They turn off their listening. After all, once someone hears something they’re not interested in or don’t want to hear, they shut their listening for the remainder of the meeting. And then we wonder why we keep repeating ourselves, over and over and over again.

Here are some questions that are going to open up that possibility for you to coach them and get them engaged in the process as well as making positive change. “Can I point something out to you that may be tough to look at right now?” “I’ve something that I need to share with you that’s going to sting a little bit but I need you to know that I’m sharing this with you for your own good. I just need you to be open to hearing it, okay?” Finally, “Do I have permission to say something to you each time I notice you’re reverting back to your old destructive habits and behaviors?” When you get enrollment, when you get buy-in from this, you have someone that’s engaged in the process.