One night a police officer was staking out a particularly rowdy bar
for possible violations of the driving under the influence laws. At
closing time, he saw a salesman stumble out of the bar, trip on the
curb, and try his keys on five different cars before he found his.
Then, he sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several
minutes. By that time, everyone else had left the bar and drove off.
Finally he started his engine and pulled away.
The police officer was waiting for that salesman. He stopped the
salesman, read him his rights and administered a breathalyzer test. The
results showed a reading of 0.0. The puzzled officer demanded to know
how that could be.
The salesman responded, "Tonight officer, I'm the Designated Decoy."
Moral of the Story. True sales professionals understand that
anticipation, being able to predict how others will act in response to
their actions, is crucial to one's success at negotiations. Making sure
one uses this skill for only good purposes however, is another skill
entirely.
"But if we learn to think of it as anticipation,
as learning, as growing, if we think of the time we spend waiting for
the big things of life as an opportunity instead of a passing of time,
what wonderful horizons open out!" - Anna Neagle
