Answer it—directly and in writing. List five specific reasons why the answer to your question is yes.

Robert Cialdini, the Arizona State University scholar and one of the most important social scientists of the last generation, calls this “the contrast principle.

Every circumstance in which we try to move others by definition involves another human being. Yet in the name of professionalism, we often neglect the human element and adopt a stance that’s abstract and distant. Instead, we should recalibrate our approach so that it’s concrete and personal—and not for softhearted reasons but for hardheaded ones.

But the successful seller must feel some commitment that his product offers mankind as much altruistic benefit as it yields the seller in money.

Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini.