Oh, of course, she smiled, put him on. My client, maing apologies for
the interruption, picked up the phone. I left the room for a few moments to
give her privacy.
When I returned, Susan was just hanging up, saying, Sure, have him
phone me. She told me the call was from her brothein-law whose young
cousin worked in a gas station but was inteested in a career in real estate.
The young man is going to call me and Ill see if I can help him out. It was
obvious she was happy to do her brother-in-law a favor. We picked up our
discussion where we left off.
Not four minutes later, the secretary buzzed again. Ms. Evans, a Sonny
Laker is on the line. He says hes your brother-ilaw Harrys cousin and hes
supposed to call you. My client was taken aback. I could tell from her
expression she was saying to heself, Boy, my overanxious brother-in-law
didnt waste any time, did he? It seemed obvious to both of us what had
happened. Like
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How to Make Them Want to Do Favors for You 307
greased lightning, Harry must have hot-breathedly called Cousin Sonny
to give him the big headline: Evans Would See Him! Then, by dialing Ms.
Evans immediately, Sonny made it seem the bideal interview was the most
important event in his otherwise dull and dismal life.
True or not, one verity remainedLittle Cousin was insenstive to an
unspoken rule big winners always obey: dont jump immediately when
someone is doing you a favor. Allow the peson granting the favor time to
savor the pleasure of agreeing to it, before having to pay up.
Both brother-in-law and potential employee slipped in Evanss estimate,
all because of timing. To ensure the kid wouldnt call his real-estate-mogul
sister-in-law too quickly, Harry should have waited a day before telling his
cousin the good news. Also, young Sonny should have asked Cousin Harry
about Evanss schedule. Sometimes an immediate call is advantageous but
not when somone is granting you a favor.
One might think Evans was unfair judging Sonny harshly just because
he didnt let her savor the favor. It runs deeper than that. Evanss
subconscious thought process goes something like this: If this kid is
insensitive to the subtleties of timing when getting a
Technique #81
Let Em Savor the Favor
ooja
(Ooja)
#1