That’s a Verbal Deal, Right?

A verbal deal feels solid in the room and evaporates by the time you get to the car. Larry treats a verbal yes as a checkpoint, not the finish line. The moment someone agrees out loud, he repeats it back word for word so there is no room to soften it later.

Then he writes it down in front of them, because a sentence on paper is harder to walk back than a sentence in the air. This is the bridge into the One-Way Letter of Intent, where the verbal yes becomes a written commitment to specific actions. He is not asking for a signature yet, just an initial next to the line that matches what they said.

That small physical act, pen touching paper, does more than a handshake ever will. Larry’s claim is that most deals die in the gap between the verbal yes and the paperwork, not in the pitch itself.

PQRST prep matters here too, because you need the actual terms ready to write the second they agree. Fumble for a laptop or a blank form at that moment and you give them time to reconsider.

Carry a pen and something to write on before you ever ask the question. The verbal deal is the opening. The written line is the close.