Be Specific - Ask For What You Want
I can’t remember who I heard this from but I remember listening to a program on the radio and they were talking about people never getting what they want because they don’t ask for it. It was as simple as that. How can you get what you want if you don’t ask for it?
At the time we had just purchased our house and I was purchasing furniture for our living room, dining room and bedroom. Everything I needed to purchase was going to be from one store I really liked in town. I worked with one salesperson and her and I went through all the furniture I was considering. I wasn’t in a hurry for the furniture and I had time to shop around. This gave me an idea as to what pieces were out there and how much they were going for. I do this whenever I’m considering purchasing anything. Always compare pricing.
I ended up back at my store in town looking to purchase 2 couches, recliner-rocking chair, a bedroom set, dining room table and six chairs. We negotiated pricing and I was able to get several hundred dollars off the total price. As she was working up the paperwork I asked if she would be willing to throw in 2 lamps and a beautiful picture I wanted for the living room. We worked out a deal and my total savings was about $2,000.00. That wouldn’t have been the case if I didn’t ask and negotiate.
Is this something you do in your daily life? Negotiate pricing, ask for what you want? Even a trip to a fast food restaurant I find myself asking specifically for 5 ketchup. I use to say can I please have extra ketchup then get home and there are only 2 in the bag. So now I ask for 5 and I get 5. It sounds so silly but it works. Try it - even with something simple today.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am
(this is also related to your post about christmas shopping, and whether I am changing my plan this year.)
I am pushing my family to shop from and create wishlists this year. We have a big extended family and it can be very difficult to shop for everyone, especially on a budget. My husband and I discovered http://www.findgift.com (and I’m sure there are others like it) a few years ago and used it for our wedding registry–it worked flawlessly. We did not get a single duplicate gift. A findgift.com registry allows you to shop around online and add things to your registry with a button you can add to your toolbar. So instead having one registry at one store, or multiple registries at different places, you have just one list that encompasses everything. Gifters just check something off the list once they’ve bought it.
We kept ours up as birthday and Christmas lists, and now almost everyone in my family has created one. I made a little website that links to everyone’s wishlist so they are even easier to find. Things are being checked off of wishlists like crazy, which feels great because it reduces the chance that I’m going to get useless, poorly fitting, or not-my-style gifts.
Also this year I’ve kept in touch with cousins so that we can pool our money to get gifts for aunts and uncles. As individuals we just can’t get anything good, but together we can afford something from a wishlist, something that person really wants.
Some family’s think Christmas wishlists are rude, but my family has embraced the concept that it is ruder to give a gift that has nothing in common with the giftee–that is far too impersonal.