How to Make Them Want to Do Favors for You

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greased lightning, Harry must have hot-breathedly called Cousin

Sonny to give him the big headline: Evans Would See Him! Then,

by dialing Ms. Evans immediately, Sonny made it seem the bigdeal interview was the most important event in his otherwise dull

and dismal life.

True or not, one verity remained—Little Cousin was insensitive to an unspoken rule big winners always obey: don't jump

immediately when someone is doing you a favor. Allow the person granting the favor time to savor the pleasure of agreeing to it,

before having to pay up.

Both brother-in-law and potential employee slipped in Evans's

estimate, all because of timing. To ensure the kid wouldn't call his

real-estate-mogul sister-in-law too quickly, Harry should have

waited a day before telling his cousin the good news. Also, young

Sonny should have asked Cousin Harry about Evans's schedule.

Sometimes an immediate call is advantageous but not when someone is granting you a favor.

One might think Evans was unfair judging Sonny harshly just

because he didn't let her savor the favor. It runs deeper than that.

Evans's subconscious thought process goes something like this: "If

this kid is insensitive to the subtleties of timing when getting a

How to Make Them Want to Do Favors for You 307

Technique #81

Let 'Em Savor the Favor

Whenever a friend agrees to a favor, allow your

generous buddy time to relish the joy of his or her

beneficence before you make them pay the piper.

How long? At least twenty-four hours.

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job, how sensitive is he going to be when negotiating the sale of a

house?" One agent's overanxious call to an owner can mean thousands lost in commissions for the firm.

Big winners have supernatural vision into your future. They

see every communications blunder you make as a visible blotch on

your x-ray. It dims your prognosis for being successful in life.

Let's look at yet another tenuous thread between favor asker

and favor grantor that must not be severed lest the relationship

unravel.