perhaps we should offer people some training for situations like this.
The salespeople have training for it. But there’s a big assymetry involved—it pays for salespeople to get better at selling, so the training is (to the extent it’s effective) self-funding. Victims don’t get paid, so it’s hard to justify the cost/expense of training. This is especially true for this type of training, which consists of “let’s practice getting past the discomfort by experiencing it multiple times and remembering to always focus on our goal”.
Which highlights the main assymetry. The salesperson HAS a goal—they want to sell something. The victim does NOT have a clear goal—they want to feel good about themselves on many dimensions (politeness, providing for family, getting good deals, etc.), and haven’t thought about what they want from THIS interaction.
The salespeople have training for it. But there’s a big assymetry involved—it pays for salespeople to get better at selling, so the training is (to the extent it’s effective) self-funding. Victims don’t get paid, so it’s hard to justify the cost/expense of training. This is especially true for this type of training, which consists of “let’s practice getting past the discomfort by experiencing it multiple times and remembering to always focus on our goal”.
Which highlights the main assymetry. The salesperson HAS a goal—they want to sell something. The victim does NOT have a clear goal—they want to feel good about themselves on many dimensions (politeness, providing for family, getting good deals, etc.), and haven’t thought about what they want from THIS interaction.