Chapter 14 Tested Sentences That Make The Other Person Say “Yes” Make it easy for the buyer to agree and say “Yes.” How a porter does it. How to do it on “call-backs.”
I WAS RUSHING down to Philadelphia the other day with my grip in my hand. When I was half way across the large foyer of Pennsylvania Station, a smiling porter pointed to my bag. At the same time he said, “Which train are you catching?” Thinking the schedules might have been changed, I quickly informed him I was catching the ten o‟clock express. Reaching for my bag, the porter said, “I‟ll get you direct to the right platform quickly.”
“Fine!” was my reply.
While sitting in the train I suddenly realized that the porter had used a sure-fire sales sentence on me. He got a tip. I got to the train quickly. We both profited.
But suppose that the porter had approached me with the usual, “Carry your bag?” I would have said, “No,” because it is light, and there is no need for a man to run after me with such a small bag. He was more subtle, however. Years of using words and techniques on people had taught this porter the best language to use to make it easy for people to say “Yes.” Down at our corner grocery store in Forest Hills, Long Island, the other day, a woman entered the store and asked for Lux Soap, which comes in two sizes, large and small. The grocer knows that if he asked the woman, “Large or small size?” she would usually say, “Oh, small is all right. I can always come back for more.”
“Tested Selling” in Groceries
Unfortunately, after she runs out of soap the next time, she may be going to some other store, and that store gets the sale. It is always good to get the business while it is in your hand. Therefore, the grocery clerk make it easy for the woman to say “Yes,” by the simple sentence, “The family economical size, madam?”
The woman said, “Oh, yes the economical size. I always buy economically.”
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