For instance, suppose you want to buy a diamond. Instead of going right
to your favorite jewelry shop and asking dumbbell dimond questions, go to
the competition. Make friends with the salesclerk and pick up a few gems
of diamondese. Youll learn jeelers say stones, not diamonds. When youre
talking about the top of the stone, they say table; the widest part is the
girdle; the botom is the cutlet. If the stone looks yellow, dont say yellow,
say cape. If you see flaws, dont say flaws, say inclusions or gletz. If you
still dont like the stone, dont say Id like to see something beter, say finer.
(Dont ask me why. Thats just the way the diamond crowd talks.)
Then, when youve got your lingo down, go to where you want to buy.
Because you now speak diamond, you get a much better price.
How to Talk Them into Getting the Insiders Price 169
Technique #43
Bluffing for Bargains
The haggling skills used in ancient Arab markets are alive and well in
contemporary America for big-ticket items. Your price is much lower when
you know how to deal.
Before every big purchase, find several vendorsa few to learn from and
one to buy from. Armed with a few words of industryese, youre ready to
head for the store where youre going to buy.
Soon youll be asking furriers where the skins were dressed, moving
companies for their ICC performance record, and lawyers the hourly rate of
paralegals and associates. Then these folks, like Iggy the painter, will say to
themselves, Hey, dis is no babe in the woodsI better deal straight.
Let us now delve deeper into the world of being an insider. This time we
explore how to give your conversation partner the sense that you share not
only experiences but the heavy stuff. You share beliefs and values in life.
ooja
(Ooja)
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