The Stanford Business Reporter

Issue date: 10/15/01 Section: Features

Don´t let the smile fool you: This Safeway manager taught one Reporter reporter a lesson in negotiations

Negotiate. That thing that you dread to do with car salesmen who are all over you like a cheap suit as they try to sell you something called "undercoating." That thing you cringe about for weeks before you approach your boss with an eighty-five point list – with exhibits – detailing why you deserve a raise. That thing that…your GSB professor assigns you to do at a RESPECTABLE RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT. Doh!

Last week, Professor Neale assigned our class to purchase something for less-than-the-marked price in a retail store. Don't get me wrong, I like negotiating as much as the next guy, but…

I thought about what I needed (okay, what I wanted) to buy – a case of wine. I just happened to be at the Cherry Chase Safeway in Sunnyvale, so, in front of dozens of shoppers milling around in the open end of the store where the wine department, bakery and deli meet, I attempted to dicker with the store manager. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Would you give me a ten percent off of a case of this wine?"

Manager: "We don't negotiate on our prices."

Me: "Okay, five percent." (Note: this is a word-for-word depiction of Professor Neale's example of how not to negotiate.)

Soon I was off on my next adventure – a few doors down to the Fujii Bakery. I asked the sixteen year-old girl at the counter if I could have a ten percent discount on a dozen cookies. "It's for a school project on negotiating," I explained, trying to appeal to her sense of camaraderie as a fellow student. I also reminded her that it was 4:45 pm on a Friday (not your prime time for cookie purchases). She told me to wait, that she'd go ask "in the back." Assuming she wasn't trying the old "limited authority" negotiating trick on me, I expected the managers to emerge from the back to negotiate with me themselves. Alas, the sixteen year-old came back.

Sixteen year-old: "They said they won't give you a discount."

Me: "Well, how about this. I write for our school newspaper. I'd be happy to write an article about my experience with Fujii Bakery."

Sixteen year-old: "Like an advertisement?"

Me: "No, not like an advertisement. Better. Nobody reads advertisements, but lots of people read articles."

Sixteen year-old: "I'll go ask."

Again, the sixteen year-old emerged from the back, denying me my ten percent at darn-near closing time on Friday afternoon. I was devastated! I don't know which is worse: that Fujii Bakery's managers are too stingy to recognize what was clearly what Professor Neale would call a "good deal," or that they didn't have the guts to come out from hiding in the back to tell me "no" to my face!

Next stop: The Good Guys. Ah, the good guys. They're so…good. And, more importantly, they negotiate. By this time, I was running late for my Friday night activities and was tired of trying to get people to wheel and deal. So…I pulled out the heavy artillery. I parked outside of the electronics retailer, whipped out my lipstick and mascara, transformed myself into the supermodel I always knew I had in me, and entered the store, ready to do battle.

The salesman knew what I was up to from the get go, but being that it was Friday and that he seemed in a jovial mood – and was frankly just probably happy for the diversion – he played along. I wanted to buy a telephone, so he helped me choose a Sony phone with all sorts of whiz-bang features.

Me: "May I have a ten percent discount?"

Salesman: "We give discounts to 'long-term partners' (he must have read Cialdini too) – those who buy service warranties."

Me: "Hmmmm. Will you give me a discount on the phone and the warranty?" (knowing I was still getting screwed on the warranty)

Salesman: "Maybe I can get you five percent [anchoring]. But I'll have to ask my manager [limited authority]."

Manager (after several minutes): "Yes, you can have five percent off. If you're so good at negotiating [flattery], you should come and teach our salesmen how not to negotiate." (yeah, right)

When all was said and done, I spoke with the salesman and asked him if many people try to negotiate with him generally. I was surprised at his answer. He said nine out of ten people negotiate. He clarified that those nine are usually people who come in with advertisements from competing retailers, but there are still some folks who try to negotiate on large items such as big-screen TVs. He even told me a story about a customer negotiation where the trade-off was next-day delivery versus purchase of a service warranty, and the discussion got so heated that the customer walked out and then called back later to fight some more.

Thus ended my negotiation. I said "thank you" to the salesman. He said "thank YOU." And I said (what else): "That's what long-term partners do for each other." Cialdini would have been proud.

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