micro-yes
phrase

- a minor affirmative response used to gain incremental commitment

- small, initial agreement that paves the way for larger ones

- a tiny yes that helps build toward a full decision

Merriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary, Cambridge Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

"Micro-yes" surfaced in sales training books around 2010, blending "micro" for tiny with "yes" for agreement. It drew from psychology's foot-in-the-door technique, where small asks lead to big ones. Early mentions appear in Zig Ziglar's influence talks, but then it gained traction in 2015 podcasts on negotiation.

The phrase hit mainstream via books like "To Sell Is Human" by Daniel Pink, who nodded to it as a commitment ladder. Roots trace to 1960s behavioural studies by Freedman and Fraser on compliance. It stuck in business English, spreading to coaching apps by the 2020s.

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SYNONYMS

affirmation, assent, approval, baby steps, consent, endorsement, first step, foot in the door, go-ahead, green light, incremental buy-in, incremental yes, inch along, initial buy-in, low-hanging yes, MICRO-YES, minor consent, nod, nudge, okay, prompt, permission to go ahead, small go-ahead, soft assent, soft commit, starter yes, tiny agreement, toe-dip agreement, trial balloon

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SMUGGLE
 OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“We all use MICRO-YESSES quite intuitively,... to move conversations forward."

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