The sandwich method is mainly used in professional life, especially in appraisal interviews in which the manager evaluates the performance of the employee. However, the sandwich method is also frequently used for spontaneous feedback so as not to attach too much importance to negative feedback. For example, the following quote could be a way in which the sandwich method is used for feedback:
“Your project was very well structured and thought through from the start. However, there were some topics missing from the presentation that we had discussed at the last meeting. Nevertheless, your presentation was very successful and you certainly noticed yourself that some topics were missing, and you worked them in afterwards.”
The sandwich method is also used in everyday life, when telling friends or family something they may not want to hear. The sandwich method is also extremely popular in sales and retailing – salespeople use it to try and sell potential customers a product. Instead of criticism, however, sales people pack the investment or the price into a sandwich – the bread slices are then the advantages or possible uses of the product. These should be so convincing that the price hardly seems important any more to the customer.