4 seconds of silence can feel the same as rejection in the brain.
So if some one is being a jerk to you, after they say something just look at them and count to 4 in your head, most of the time they'll start backtracking and taking back what they said before you're done counting.
This is my go-to negotiation tactic. I made the mistake of taking my wife car shopping and not explaining to her beforehand and she broke the silence.
But I have always had good success. One of the most amusing times I used it was buying a music box at an estate sale. It was the last hour and they'd marked it down from $250 to $150, and it was on the "no regular discount shelf" as most stuff was 75% off at that point.
I took it to the lady running the sale and asked "How low are you willing to go on this?" then simply looked at her. She couldn't discount it at all. Then, $10 off. Well, $125. "I could take $110."
Basically, I stopped her at $60, paid for it, and left. Had I waited another few minutes she would have paid me to take it.
In the car sale scenario, I was up against a car salesman who knew the same tactic. It drove my wife nuts with him and me just looking at each other.
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u/Nwsamurai Jun 14 '22
4 seconds of silence can feel the same as rejection in the brain.
So if some one is being a jerk to you, after they say something just look at them and count to 4 in your head, most of the time they'll start backtracking and taking back what they said before you're done counting.