Never fight on price.
“Door-in-the-face” is one of the most common techniques for implementing the Law of Contrast. Basically, an initially large and almost unreasonable request is made, likely to be declined?hence the “door slammed-in-the-face” as the prospect rejects the proposal. Then a second smaller and more reasonable request is made. People accept the second request more readily than if they’d just been asked outright because the contrast between the two requests makes the second one seems so much better. The technique is effective because social standards state each concession must be exchanged with another concession. When you allow a rejection, it is considered a concession. The person you are persuading will then feel obligated to agree with your smaller request. The reason DITF is so effective is because society and the Law of Obligation direct us that each concession must be given a concession. When you give them a concession they will be more inclined to give you a concession.
Demonstrating this point, researchers first asked college students to donate blood every two months for three consecutive years. Requiring a long-term commitment of not only time, but also of physical and emotional responsibility, the request was overwhelmingly turned down. The next day, the same students were asked to donate blood just one time, 49 percent agreed. The control group, where the students were only approached with the second request, (will you donate today) only demonstrated a 31 percent compliance rate.
The main reason the door-in-the-face technique is so effective is because the contrast between the two requests makes your prospects feel like they are getting more/or less than if you didn’t adjust their perceptions. They feel like they’ve made a fair compromise, while you get exactly what you wanted in the first place.