Great Guy, Poor Salesperson

I went car shopping this past weekend.   I’ve been concerned that, as my current car approaches 80K miles, it’s going to begin to break down so this might be a good time to trade it in.  My goal was to keep my monthly payments at the same level.  Being a reasonable man and not wanting to get involved with attempting to bang a “square peg into a round hole,”  I concluded that if I wanted to buy new yet keep the payments similar, I probably would have to purchase at least a slightly inferior vehicle.

The sales person seemed to be in his mid 60″s.  He was thin and affable, and I felt very comfortable with him.  We chatted about our similar heritage and the fact that I grew up near the dealership years ago when it wasn’t a dealership at all but simply a repair shop.  He introduced himself as Fred and was able to quickly track down the car that I was looking for.  He also summoned his appraisor to assess the value of my trade in.  The appraised value of course was lower than I anticipated.

Then came my surprise.  Fred never sat down with me to discuss the fact that he could help me reach my goal.  That although the appraisal may have seemed low, he still would be able to make the numbers work for me.  Perhaps he couldn’t, but because we never sat down at his desk to discuss it I’ll never know.  Instead, Fred threw out some “ballpark numbers” for my monthly payment and after he took my car for a drive to see that it ran well,  he proceeded to tell me how difficult it would be for me to leave the luxury that I had.

I was ready to be sold.  Ready to make a deal but I needed someone to give me a reason to stop drifting into buyer’s remorse and from concluding that it would be more prudent to keep my car and pay it off rather than take on another car loan.  I trusted him and was motivated so it probably wouldn’t have been that difficult for him to convince me otherwise.

I see realtors often do the same thing.  If you’re percieved to be a great person and trustworthy, then the selling part should come easily.  If you follow the path of  least resistance, however, and fail to address the customers’ needs by offering them a solution, your conversion rate will be limited. 

On my way home I stopped to have the car washed.  It was a lot less expensive!

 

 

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Comments

  1. First, of course, I have a LIST of suggestions for the salesperson who clearly lost you as a customer! As I discussed with you today, I had a similar experience recently when I was an eager and able buyer at a car dealership and the “salesperson” was full of what he couldn’t and wouldn’t do, rather than being solution oriented. I wanted to buy his car at nearly any price and I had a car that I needed to dispose of…he responded that he could sell me a car but he can’t help me with my car. Out of curiosity, I called the dealership up the road a piece. The salesperson, whom I have never met,not only offered me a better purchase price but he worked to find a way to buy my current vehicle.I readily recognized that his solution was no small feat and will be thanking him for years I am sure. I am so happy to be doing business with the person who listened for my priorities and worked furiously toward a solution. “NO” was not an option for him or me.

  2. Walking in the peresnce of giants here. Cool thinking all around!

  3. Your awnser was just what I needed. It’s made my day!

  4. Thanks for spending time on the copmuter (writing) so others don’t have to.

  5. Great article, thank you again for wiitrng.

  6. I bow down hmulby in the presence of such greatness.

  7. More posts of this qulatiy. Not the usual c***, please

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  1. [...] a car dealer and a real estate agent have similiar qualities? See what Al thinks in his post Great Guy, Poor Salesperson on his blog The Daily [...]

Al Filippone, Realtor | licensed in the state of CT | Al Filippone Associates | William Raveis | 75 Station Street, Southport, CT 06890 | Page last updated: November 14, 2011 @ 8:19 pm