Last week was my nephew Jacob's birthday. He would be turning 7 on Wednesday and is in the first grade. Like usual I was shopping for a last minute birthday gift for him and had no idea what to get him. After spending hours racking my brain about the whole thing I decided to just give him a call and ask him what he wanted directly. You know the age old question, "What do you want for your birthday?"
I called my brother's house and to my surprise my nephew Jacob answered the phone. I barely recognized his voice. He said excitedly, "Hi Aunt Julie! I got an "A" on my spelling test!"
"Awesome!" I replied, "Did you get them all right?" "No." he said, "I missed Giraffe. I knew I got it wrong right away. I spelled it G-R-I-A-F-F-E instead of G-I-R-A-F-F-E." I told him how proud I was of him and what a good job he is doing in school and that I would be willing to test him if he emailed me his spelling words each week. I asked him what else was new. He told me about his Nana and Papa coming to visit him for his birthday next week and that he really missed them and was looking forward to seeing them since it had been a while.
"Hey!" I said. "Speaking of your birthday, I'm not sure what you would like this year. Was there anything particular you wanted?" Jacob then masterfully gave me a textbook "Money Warning" as we teach it in our "Total Immersion" Sales Summit's.
Jacob did it so good I swear he must have attended the training. Here is what he said: "Well, I do want this new Lego set... but I'll never get it because it's ve-e-e-ry expensive Aunt Julie," he said in a disappointing tone, drawing out the word very. (Great Money Warning -- I am fully price conditioned using the law of contrast!)
I replied, "Expensive! How expensive could it be? It's only a Lego set." (I'm selling HIM that I can afford it!)
"Well, I'm not sure you can afford it," he said. I started to defend my finances, "Jacob, your uncle Joe and I make a lot of money. I think we can afford a Lego set. (I sold myself now)
How much is it?" He said slowly, "Well Aunt Julie, its $99." (His presentation)
"That's all, $99?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said. "But if you can't afford it Aunt Julie you can get me the "Lego Pick--A--Brick" for only $12. That's where I mix and match the pieces." (Good selling Jacob, give me other lower cost options!)
"Well, I think we can arrange that. Which one is it so I know which one to get?" He proceeded to explain to me how it's the coolest Star Wars Lego set you could imagine and the only one he was missing in his Star Wars collection. I wrote the name of it down and then said, "How about if I get you the Star Wars Starship, and then I get you a gift certificate also to the mix and match thing so you can pick out the pieces you need for your other sets?" He was ecstatic to say the least.
We finished talking and I told him that I missed seeing him and looked forward to visiting with him soon and he told me he loved me and to say "hi" to Uncle Joe and then hung up the phone abruptly like kids do.
I was very pleased with myself to find out exactly what he wanted instead of the usual sending him a gift certificate, or something that he didn't like or already had in his vast toy collection.
As I weeded my way through the mall past the other shoppers, past the other toy stores, and through the doors of the illustrious Lego store, I began to think about how this sweet, innocent, 6 year old boy had played me like a pro.
Not only had he given me the money warning, getting me to defend my ego and my finances to him, but he then proceeded to give me options. Although he only gave me two options, he is only six. My guess is by next year's birthday he will be up to three or four options at the very least, not to mention using the Referral Step. I imagine it going something like this, "It's really hard to find good Aunts like you..."
by Julie Crisara
6 Year-Old Nets New Toy With "Money Warning" - To learn more about this author, visit Joe Crisara's Website.
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