Why Does Cartier Give Shoppers Chocolate Before a Visit?

Greg Isenberg says Cartier gives a shopper a tray of Perrier and two pieces of Swiss chocolate before the shopper has looked around, because the store wants that person to feel good. Staff ask whether the person wants flat water or sparkling water, then come back with an aluminum tray, thick napkins he puts at probably a dollar each, and the chocolate. The pattern is the law of reciprocity: if someone gives a person value, that person wants to give value back. A shopper with no plan to buy a Cartier Tank can leave having spent $10,000 after a 35-cent piece of Swiss chocolate. He has told the story on the podcast before.

James Dickerson matched it with a night at his kids' baseball practice. A friend's dog had just died, and the vet called to say she had donated in the dog's name to the veterinary college where she trained, which the friend placed at Tufts or something like that. With two dogs and a wish for the best care, the first question was who the vet was. Jay Abraham's strategy of preeminence is to keep a prospect's goodwill and become the trusted advisor. The friend will never take an animal to another vet. The vet may not have meant the call as marketing. The story was still strong enough that he wanted to rescue a dog just to work with her. Not enough people even consider a moment like the chocolate or the donation.