Influence

ished giving their food orders, he would say, “Very well, and would
you like me to suggest or select some wine to go with your meals?” As
I watched the scene repeated almost nightly, there was a notable con-
sistency to the customers’ reactions—smiles, nods, and for the most
part, general assent.
Even from the distance of my vantage point, one could read their
thoughts from their faces. “Sure,” they seemed to say, “you know what’s
good here, and you’re obviously on our side. Tell us what to get.”
Looking pleased, Vincent, who did know his vintages, would respond
with some excellent (and costly) choices. He was similarly persuasive
when it came time for dessert decisions. Patrons who otherwise would
have passed up the dessert course or shared with a friend were swayed
to partake fully by Vincent’s rapturous descriptions of the Baked Alaska
and chocolate mousse. Who, after all, is more believable than a demon-
strated expert of proven sincerity?
By combining the factors of reciprocity and credible authority into a
single, elegant maneuver, Vincent was able to inflate substantially both
the percentage of his tip and the base charge on which it was figured.
His proceeds from this trick were handsome, indeed. But notice that
much of his profit came from an apparent lack of concern for personal
profit. Seeming to argue against his financial interests served those in-
terests extremely well.

READER’S REPORT

From a Young Businessman

“About two years ago, I was trying to sell my old car because I’d already
bought a new one. One day I passed a used-car lot with a sign reading,
WE WILL SELL YOUR CAR FOR MORE. Just what I wanted, I thought; so I
stopped in to talk with the owner. I told him I wanted to get about three
thousand dollars for my old car, and he said he thought I should be
asking for a lot more because it was worth at least thirty-five-hundred
dollars. This came as a real surprise to me, because the way their con-
signment system worked, the larger my asking price for the car, the
less money was left over for them to keep after they sold it to somebody.
Therefore, by telling me to ask for more than three thousand dollars,
they were cutting off their own profits. Just like your Vincent-the-waiter
example, they were seeming to argue against their own interests so I’d
see them as trustworthy authorities; but I didn’t realize this until much
later. Anyway, I went along with the owner’s idea that my car was
worth more than I’d first thought, and I set my asking price at thirty-
five-hundred dollars.
“After they’d had my car on their lot for a couple of days, they called

176 / Influence