[One Idea Monday] Why are Salesmen so good at haggling?

Akwaaba friends,

💡 1 Idea: Get what you want Pt.2

Last Monday, I told you about the Foot-In-The-Door (FITD) approach to getting what you want. This week, I present to you the Door-In-The-Face (DITF) approach.

Instead of starting with small, easy-to-agree asks, you open with a crazy request: “Can you give me 6 hours of your day?”

If you get a yes, that’s awesome. But even if you get a no, that’s when you lower the request.

Given people’s mental anchor of your previous crazy ask, the new request will appear a lot more reasonable, increasing your chance of getting a Yes.

This is why when you haggle, the salesman always opens with a ridiculously high price (to anchor your expectation), and drives the price lower with each new offer. So when you walk away with the “best price”, you feel like you just win a bargain, but in reality, he just wins your money.

Here’s the 3-part structure to set up the Door In The Face:

The Anchor: Can you give me 6 hours of your day? - NO. I don’t have that time.

The Trap: Okay, so what’s a reasonable/fair amount of time for you? - I don’t know. No more than 1 hour.

The Final Offer: Okay, so how about we meet for 30 minutes then? - Okay.

Now that you know both approaches, you have to choose for yourself: Do you wanna start with a yes, or wiggle through a no?

💬 1 Quote

Individual thinking suffers from bias. But a diversity of biases helps the communal brain reduce blind spots. - Tim Urban, What’s our problem? A self-help book for societies

❓ 1 Poll/ Question

The world will be a better place if X disappears.

What’s X in your opinion?

Have a great Monday!