News : Women are pros in art of shopping

Women are pros in art of shopping
Friday September 15, 2006

IT ALL started when the washing machine started to make a noise like the beating of tribal drums, instead of whirring smoothly.

I had bought the machine “only” 20 years ago and it was already giving me this racket.
My wife warned me if her eardrums continued to take a beating from the horrendous din, I would have to get her a hearing aid pretty soon.

I quickly concluded that it would be more economical to invest in a new machine rather than a hearing aid.

The next day, we went to the store. As soon as the pleasantries were done with, the salesman, a twenty-something “dude”, launched into a pitch with military-like precision, bombarding us with terms like nano silver technology, tornado cleaning, turbo drum and the like.

My wife, bless her, stood her ground and retaliated with even more technical mumbo-jumbo.
I stepped aside to let them talk. My role, I told myself, would come later, and sure enough, it came – The Haggle.

This was my department, and I was not going to let any slick smooth talker take me for a turbo spin. I had the 20 Rules of Sun Tzu's Art of Negotiation written on a piece of paper and tucked in my palm.

My wife, standing by a washing machine, called me over and directed my gaze towards the price tag.

I sauntered over casually and looked at the machine with pursed lips.

“What's the damage?” I inquired nonchalantly. (Rule No. 1: Act cool, act uninterested)

When I looked at the price tag, my spectacles nearly dropped. “Two thousand four hundred ... ,” I gasped. (Rule No. 14: When ambushed, don't panic)

“But the hearing aid costs only two thousand!” I implored.

“Don't be ridiculous, hearing aids can't do laundry,” she said.

“I suppose you're right, but can't you pick a lesser ... umm ... cheaper model?

“There is one over there that costs much less, its quite big and has got two drums,” I said. (Rule No. 7: Always counter-offer)

“That's a semi-automatic model, the extra drum is for spin dry, it's a phased-out model and there's no guarantee on it anymore,” said the salesman, looking amused.

“So what if it's semi-auto?” I snorted loudly. “Don't tell me it doesn't wash as clean as the fully automatic ones, right darling? Darling?” (Rule No. 6, state your position and don't move away from it)

Unfortunately, my wife was already at the sales desk.

“Sign here, dear, and hurry up, we need to pick up Ah Boy from tuition,” she said as she pushed the credit card slip towards me.

It was a fait accompli. I had lost the battle, no thanks to my wife, who jumped ship at the critical moment.

Dejected, I signed without even looking at the figure on the slip.
Fifteen minutes later inside the car, I still couldn't understand how my wife – who usually takes eons to choose things – could breeze through rows of washing machines and was able to pick one so fast.

“How did you know that the RM2,400 one was the right machine?” I asked.

“RM2,400? Don't be silly. I told them the washing machine I wanted. It's a smaller model that wasn't in the showroom. They'll send it to us,” she said.

“And the price is?” I asked, as my spirits soared.

“RM1,200. Didn't you look when you signed the slip?” she said.

Still puzzled, I asked her how she could come to a decision in just five minutes.

“I was already there yesterday with Gladys (her Tai Chi buddy). Her husband is the boss. Gladys also promised me a free DVD player,” she replied.

So hey, who needs Sun Tzu? When it comes to business deals, just bring on the old girl.

duke88 - http://blog.thestar.com.my/

[tags : shoppingNsales news malaysia]