I’ve read in many books and blogs that six or seven is the magic number for how many times you must ask someone to do something before they buy in. The more I think about it, the more I believe it. This applies to both salespeople and average Joes.

Lets start with a salesman example. Back when I ran immature dedicated server company #1, I remembered having to follow up on my leads several times before they would convert into a sale. Most people in the business didn’t bother. Either someone bought or they didn’t, and other companies would dismiss their leads if the leads didn’t buy on first glance. I found myself chatting with prospective clients, sending them fact sheets, sending them follow-up emails, and occasionally becoming friends with these prospective clients! It takes a little more effort than salespeople prefer, but commitment truly works.

The next example applies to the average Joe. When you don’t get your way in regards to anything, it doesn’t help to ask again. For example, I was having trouble redeeming my United frequent flyer miles for my trip to Vancouver. I called a total of seven times and wasn’t able to get help five of the seven times I called. The first two times, the operator told me that there was no way that I could book a flight from New York to Vancouver, then from Vancouver to San Francisco. Why? They didn’t have a good reason. They claimed that it was just “part of the rules,” but I think they’re just ignorant. I’m the customer; therefore, I’m always right no matter how wrong I probably am.

On call attempt #3, an operator told me that I could redeem my flyer miles going multi-city. Great! Unfortunately, I had to wait for some other charges to apply to my account and call again the next day. I called again the next day and the operator gave me a new problem: that my mom would have to pickup my plane tickets from the airport because I was using her frequent flyer miles. Knowing my mom, she’d probably go ape shit on me. I called three more times, and I finally got through. This non-Indian gay guy operator was probably the friendliest and best-informed United phone operator I spoke with. He mailed my tickets overnight and the rest is history.

All of this feeds back to the main idea: If you don’t get your way, ask again. If that doesn’t work, ask again. And again. Seriously, it works!

Jessica Mah is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger, and sophomore in college. She’s currently the founder of a startup, managing editor at Startupism.com, and Jessicamah.com. In her free time, she enjoys the prospect of being an underage angel investor while partying like a rock star.