Influence

to this smaller request as what (it is hoped after reading this chapter)
you recognize it to be—a compliance tactic. Once done, there would be
no pressure to offer the names as a return concession, since his reduced
request would not be viewed as a real concession. At this point, un-
hampered by an inappropriately triggered sense of obligation, you may
once again be as compliant or noncompliant as you wish.
Provided you are so inclined, you might even turn his own weapon
of influence against him. Recall that the rule for reciprocation entitles
a person who has acted in a certain way to a dose of the same thing. If
you have determined that the “fire inspector’s” gifts were used, not as
genuine gifts, but to make a profit from you, then you might want to
use them to make a profit of your own. Simply take whatever the in-
spector is willing to provide—safety information, home extinguish-
er—thank him politely, and show him out the door. After all, the reci-
procity rule asserts that if justice is to be done, exploitation attempts
should be exploited.

READER’S REPORT

From a Former TV and Stereo Salesperson

“For quite a while, I worked for a major retailer in their Television and
Stereo Department. Salespeople in this department are paid on a com-
mission basis; however, continued employment was, and still is, based
on the ability to sell service contracts rather than merchandise. Company
policy was that, for every ten sales you made, you had to sell at least
four service contracts. Failure to bring your service-contract sales up
to expected levels for two consecutive months resulted in threats, relo-
cation, or termination.
“Once I recognized the importance of meeting my sales-contract
quota, I devised a plan that used the rejection-then-retreat technique,
although I didn’t know its name at the time: A customer had the oppor-
tunity to buy from one to three years’ worth of service-contract coverage
at the time of the sale. Most of the sales staff attempted just to sell a
single-year policy. That was my intention as well, since a one-year
contract counted just as much toward my quota as a three-year contract
did. Initially, however, when making my sales pitch, I would advocate
the longest and most expensive plan, realizing that most people would
not be willing to spend that much (about $140). But this gave me an
excellent opportunity later, after being rejected in my sincere attempt
to sell the three-year plan, to retreat to the one-year extension and its
relatively small $34.95 price, which I was thrilled to get. This proved
highly effective, as I sold sales contracts to an average of seventy percent
of my customers, who seemed very satisfied with the purchase while

Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D / 41