A foreign relation officer of the Government of the United States was posted in Paris, France. Let us call her Dora. As the Halloween festival approached Dora had an idea. She wanted to invite local children, mostly French and celebrate it with them. It would be great fun for all including her own two children. Also, it would introduce American culture locally. Everything else needed for the event would be available practically next door. But without pumpkin masks it will be all in vain. She made enquiries and learnt that at about half an hours drive she would find farmers’ stalls on the road with vegetables.
The next weekend Dora took the drive and after a lot of search found what she wanted. A woman had many pumpkins of the right size and type on her stall. Dora stopped by and had a closer look and got out of her car. The vendor woman welcomed her. Dora checked out on the pumpkins on display and asked in French -
"How many of these do you have?"
She had a certain number in her mind about invitees. The lady counted her stocks and told Dora the number. It almost matched what Dora needed. She also checked the price. It seemed reasonable. Dora happily ordered all of the stock. The vendor flatly refused to sell more than half. Dora requested again, but without the desired result.
Dora weighed her options. Maybe she should search further, but after seeing many many stalls this was the only place having the right size, type and quantity. Search might turn out to be dud. On second thought she wondered.
"Why should anyone refuse a customer clearing entire stock at full price?"
She asked the same question to the farm lady. Pat came the reply -
"I need the seeds for next season." Dora thought for a moment and came up with an idea. She said,
"Actually I do not need the seeds. I promise to return all the seeds within a week." Dora briefly explained about Halloween pumpkin masks to the vendor. She assured the woman again that she would return the seeds. Vendor looked at Dora and found a cultured, educated and distinguished person in her appearance. She agreed.
Dora had all the pumpkins she wanted while the vendor would get all the seeds she needed. In business this would be called a Win-Win deal after any negotiation.