Today we take a short walk down memory lane. (A short walk indeed because this story only happened a week ago. A hop might be more accurate.)

Being a passionate advocate for taking action that results in new opportunities, especially when this action is outside your comfort zone, this story is particularly enjoyable to recall.

With that bit of background, let’s hop in.

Since moving out, my skin has taken a steep left turn. Being fed up with the current state I decided the time had come: time to cut out carbs.

Wait, did you actually fall for that? No way! Why would I act so logically and take care of the likely root of the problem?!

No, instead I would take a surface remedy to and treat the result rather than the likely cause.

The conclusion was obvious, it was time for my first facial.

Looking on Groupon I found a facial for $55. (Spending judiciously is my middle name, ok?!)  I called ahead, confirmed they offered the type of facial I wanted and was pleased to hear the consultant say they would honor the Groupon price without me needing to purchase it. Wonderful, less hassle for me I thought.

The day of the appointment of the facial arrived. I went to the location and all went well, besides experiencing pinching pain for 60 straight minutes. (Thank you for the sympathy.) After the appointment, but before I left the office, the women scheduled a follow-up appointment for me, you have to commend her sales skills. 

Fast forward a few weeks and the second appointment rolled around. I came to the office, and what do you know. Apparently, you can only use the Groupon price once every 6 months, so the full price of the facial was $135. Not likely, I thought. But again, she leveraged a sales tactic, she turned and offered me a discounted price of $79. Turns out the $135 was just framing, a classic trick, she was no amateur.

Not wanting to pay $79 I thought for a moment. How can I use what I learned from the book “Never Split the Difference” by Christopher Voss  to negotiate?

Being someone who is a) not naturally prone to negotiating (but very interested in improving this skill) and b) could counting the times I’ve negotiated on a single hand, I was a little apprehensive. I told her I would need to look into how much I had budgeted for this appointment.

With a furrowed brow I turned to my phone, in what appeared to be deep thought.

What I did next was frantically write out the formula for the expected value per minute of this minus the opportunity cost divided by the long-term benefit of how many additional carbs I could eat, which would calculate the exact amount I was willing to pay.

Or so you thought. 

What I actually did was quite the opposite. I opened Instagram, look at the screen for about 25 slow seconds, closed the app and look the women straight in the eyes and said ” I can do $65.50.”

There was a pause.

Would she take it?

She did. 

(This is a negotiating tactic explained in the book is summarized as asking for a specific price, down to the cent, even if there’s not a particular reason for it. This than makes the other party interpret the sum as something very calculated and fixed.)

Ask and you shall receive, create opportunity, and go outside your comfort zone, kid.