Negotiation Tactic #91 – Jumping on the Bandwagon

Summary: Convincing a counterpart that everyone is doing it.

One of the most powerful ways to sell a customer on the merit of your product is to convince the customer that everyone is using that product. In fact, sales are going so fast you can’t keep it on the shelf. The insinuation is that if your counterpart doesn’t buy in, he will lose out.

Example
If the offer of a free dinner, a weekend’s lodging, or a gift certificate has ever succeeded in luring you to a sales presentation for a timeshare, you know how persuasive the sales team can be. Once you have been captured by your “personal vacation consultant,” you are told how very reasonable this offer is, that you typically spend more on a week’s family vacation than you would on a timeshare, that you can trade the share for another property—and on and on. To raise the excitement level and encourage you to commit, the salesperson tells you that the opportunity for you to buy is very limited. Typically, you are in a room where other couples are also meeting with their “vacation consultants.” Public announcements are made periodically, stating that various properties are no longer available. The pressure builds and it takes extreme courage not to sign on the dotted line.

Counter
The most effective counter is These Boots Are Made for Walking. Depending on your tolerance for pain, you can either walk out and forgo the “freebie” or tough it out to the bitter end and collect your free gift. If, on the other hand, you are really interested in the timeshare, you could counter with the tactic of Good Guy/Bad Guy (with your partner playing the bad guy who wants to nix the deal) to gain some leverage, or use Sweetening the Deal to try to get something extra thrown in the final package. Another effective tactic is I’ll Think About It and Get Back to You Later.