Rant: The Oral History of Buster Casey

28–Embedded Commands

Wallace Boyer (Car Salesman): Remember, car buyers will fall into one of the three learning styles: visual, auditory, or kinetic.

Talk to Echo Lawrence, for example, and her eyes are rolled up, looking at the ceiling. Every other sentence out of her mouth is "The way I see it…" or "Watch out for that bitch Tina Something…" To pace Echo, you only have to look up when you think. Do it subtly, but bunch up the fingers on your left hand to mimic hers. Speed up until your breathing is forty, maybe fifty breaths per minute. Blink your eyes at least thirty blinks every minute.

Always remember: The person asking the questions is the person in control. The way to get that huge, impossible yes is to pile up a mountain of small, easy yeses. A good salesman starts by asking what're called tie-down and add-on questions; these are questions such as "Do you want to make your wife happy?" or "Is your child's safety important to you?" Ask questions people have to answer with a surefire "yes." Ask: "Is gas mileage important to you?" and "Do you want a reliable car?" Just keep piling up those small yeses.

The more any customer says yes, the more «pliable» they become.

Another kind of questions are called "control questions," such as: "Do you like light colors or dark colors?" Or "Are you looking for a car or truck?" Control questions include the only answers the customer can give. You're limiting the answers to the options you give. Two-door or four-door? Convertible or hardtop? Do you want leather or cloth seats?

And when a person says, "Hold on," or "Listen up," that's called an "embedded command." To sell cars, you use embedded commands all day long. For example:

"Would you just look at the two-tone paint job on that beauty?"

"Treat yourself. Just feel that leather upholstery."

"Wow, would you listen to that stereo!"

If you pay attention to Echo Lawrence, half of what comes out of her mouth is embedded commands.

Control questions, tie-down questions, and embedded commands—that's how a good salesman coaxes you to open up. You pace Shot Dunyun by wiping your lips with the back of your hand while you talk. Cross your arms over your chest and flop your head from one shoulder to the other. Say "What I heard is…" and "Word on the street says…" Convince Shot you're an auditory learner. Listen for him to introduce «doors»: those little glimpses into his personal life. His dog, for example. His pug dog. And remember, he'll look side to side as he thinks about how his dog died.

But if Shot Dunyun looks at his right ear—he's lying.

For now, remember: Echo Lawrence is visual. Shot Dunyun is auditory. Neddy Nelson is kinetic.

In that last sentence, the word «remember» is an embedded command.

To repeat, the way you get to the huge, impossible yes is, you start collecting a lot of easy, small yeses.