Stories from the Sales Frontlines

sterlingdog

Our Caddy SUV has two sunroofs---a large one over the front seat and second seat. There is a smaller one over the third seat or cargo area. Both have sliding panels, like the ceiling, which can be opened and closed if you wish. The sunroofs also open to any length that you desire. We used them a little when we first bought the vehicle, but now we never even remember that we have them. A nice feature, but not really necessary, even on a luxury car.

Richard

sterlingdog

"Makes me feel all warm inside."

Yes, as if I had an accident in my pants. :P :sick:

Richard

tjc78

I've had a sunroof on most of my cars. I can't stand the summer heat, so I barely use it if the temp is above 70. My Buick that my wife drives has a massive sunroof that goes about half way into the back seat. The actual part that opens is normal size. That is the first car I ever had where the sunshade for the roof is powered as well. Most open with the roof, but have to be shut manually.

My 04 Grand Marquis doesn't have one and so far I haven't missed it, and don't think I will.

abacomike

I've had a sunroof on most of my cars. I can't stand the summer heat, so I barely use it if the temp is above 70.

I don't think I've ever opened the sunroof on any of my last 8 cars. My Dad is always with me and he can't tolerate any sun (he suffers from many bouts of skin cancer on his face including melanomas) which is unfortunate. Today's high was 78 degrees and I would have loved to drive with the sunroof open. It was a perfect day for it. One of these days...!

From May through October, it is just too hot to drive with the roof open.

As for panorama roofs, no way we could tolerate the heat generated by a glass roof, no matter how much tinting it had.

abacomike

Yes, as if I had an accident in my pants.

Now Richard, all of this stuff "...Depends..."

houdini1

While my wife and I were having coffee and reading the paper this morning, we were discussing the "blade runner" case where the guy shot and killed his girl friend, etc.

She looked at me and said, " If this goes to trial he will be found guilty because he doesn't have a leg to stand on". Coffee out the nose time.

michaellno

She looked at me and said, " If this goes to trial he will be found guilty because he doesn't have a leg to stand on". Coffee out the nose time.

Totally non-PC, but priceless!

Glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that.

abacomike

She looked at me and said, " If this goes to trial he will be found guilty because he doesn't have a leg to stand on". Coffee out the nose time.

PRICELESS!

And I bet she didn't realize it at the time!

abacomike

On the way back from the Mercedes dealership late this morning, I took my Dad for his weekly Chick-Fil-A "fix" in Boca Raton. He so looks forward to that every Tuesday, but for the past three weeks, I have been unable to take him for obvious reasons.

He orders the new spicy chicken sandwich meal with those great cross-cut fries and "several" diet Cokes. I order the 4-piece chicken strips meal with the cross-cut fries and one diet Coke. I usually have a few fries with the chicken strips, so he has the rest of my fries and his meal. He literally floats on air he loves it so much.

I'm just so glad I am able to provide some little bright spot in his otherwise dark world. And that chicken was STUPENDOUS, as always. Even though we have to wait in line for 5-10 minutes, even at 11:15 AM, it is still well worth the wait!

houdini1

Looks like there is an all out blitz by the lame street media and politicians to scare everyone because of the "draconian" budget cuts that might be brought about by sequestration. Let's put the numbers in perspective:

The U.S. is currently on track to spend about 4 trillion dollars in 2013. If these cuts go through there will be 85 billion dollars cut from this amount this year. This sounds like a lot, but it only amounts to about 2% of the 4 trillion.

To put this in numbers that we can all understand, we would be cutting 2 cents out of every dollar budgeted. This doesn't sound too bad to me but it gives you an idea of the mindset of our current crop of politicians and how difficult it is for them to reign themselves in.

imidazol97

>Looks like there is an all out blitz by the lame street media and politicians to scare everyone because of the "draconian" budget cuts that might be brought about by sequestration. Let's put the numbers in perspective:

One of the analyses I saw this morning pointed out that the "cuts" are only reductions in the rate of growth. I don't recall the exact numbers but let's say over 10 years the current projection of budgeting would have 19 trillion in increased spending--the sequestration cuts would reduce the increase to 14 trillion. These are not "cuts." And worse the head dip is acting now like the sequestration was not his idea a year and half ago. --nothing's his fault or reality. And the media helps in this mirage.

abacomike

And worse the head dip is acting now like the sequestration was not his idea a year and half ago. --nothing's his fault or reality. And the media helps in this mirage.

Remember that the "media", in general, considers Obama as the second coming...! He can't do anything wrong.

graphicguy

Dino....first and foremost, you are most welcome as a citizen of the U.S. I'd be proud to call you a fellow countryman.

Agree with you on the fracking hysteria, as being just that, unfounded hysteria.

Wlbrown.....good article! Thanks!

Oil allure is high, as it's proven over time to be a cash cow, from Standard Oil up until today. To me, that's the entire reason we haven't seen wider adaptation of charging stations, and even hydrogen outlets. The real money is still in gasoline.

Make no mistake,however. Alternate fuel vehicles will increase in useage and population. That means demand for gasoline will continue its downward trend.

Prices for gas will be driven down to compete with alternative fuels. And, oil may get a jolt here and there. But, speculators are their own worst enemy.

They won't let go of oil manipulation until they've drained every nickel out of their investors' pockets.

explorerx4

Ask and you shall receive You may have to scroll through the pictures.

abacomike

I mentioned that I knew Buddy Rogers in the 1990's (he was 92 years old at the time) from my work in a private school in Palm Springs - he used to chair our golf fundraisers with Rod Laver (tennis star) and Dennis James (MC on early TV game shows). They are showing one of his first movies right now on TCM from 1927 -"Wings". He was first married to Mary Pickford. He died in 1998 at the age of 94.

They just recently named a street after him in Rancho Mirage where he lived most of his final years.

We used to meet for lunch often to plan events for my school along with Don Drysdale.

Those were some of the best years of my life - living in the Palm Springs area of Southern California. Great memories! Great people out there. Very laid back community where movie stars and sports legends could live in an environment that was unassuming. Frequently I would be out for dinner and sitting next to me would be Tim Conway and his wife or Frank and Barbara Sinatra or Bob and Delores Hope or President and Betty Ford.

Great memories. My son still lives out there with his sons (my grandsons of course). I love going out there to visit.

fezo

You guys keep a busy pace...

Dino - congratulations and just waiting for the official word - then it's welcome aboard!

Out of our 5 cars all either are convertibles or have sun roofs.

Ah, gas. I keep hearing about the lack of any new refineries since 1979 and that's true, but it doesn't mean they haven't expanded refineries and even rebuilt some. Our refining capacity is fine. Many of the oil companies prefer importing gasoline because they can find cheaper gas that way.

We are indeed producing oil at record rates. If we wanted to in the next couple of years we could do just fine on only American and Canadian oil.

Meanwhile, I was up at the doc for the three week check up (went in the Mazda) and all is looking good! My platelets are still low but they increased a lot from three weeks ago. By my second birthday when I'll be 1 I might be able to lose all the restrictions. If not it's not long to go!

abacomike

Meanwhile, I was up at the doc for the three week check up (went in the Mazda) and all is looking good! My platelets are still low but they increased a lot from three weeks ago. By my second birthday when I'll be 1 I might be able to lose all the restrictions. If not it's not long to go!

That is great news, fezo - my prayers , as always, are with you!

roadburner

A nice feature, but not really necessary, even on a luxury car.

Richard, the BMW E34(1989-1995) 5 Series wagon had dual sunroofs. The Teutonic impulse to over-engineer a "solution" was given free reign- you could tilt one and open the other, tilt both, open both, etc. It was so complex that BMW finally added a button that closed both sunroofs with a single push.
My son's X3 has a huge sunroof which is über-expensive to fix if it breaks. He's on notice that he pays if it goes belly-up...

roadburner

That's great to hear!!!

roadburner

Right up front I'll warn you that this video is PG and immature. My son found it and we both cracked up.
The set-up is that the pranksters take turns going on to car lots. The person going on to the lot has an earpiece and has to do whatever his/her "friends" watching from another car tell him/her to do. I would be willing to bet that the current and retired salespeople on this board have encountered MUCH worse- and from people who weren't joking...

Prank vs. Prank

abacomike

I would be willing to bet that the current and retired salespeople on this board have encountered MUCH worse- and from people who weren't joking...

Honestly, in my memory over the 9 years I was in the business, I never encountered idiots like that on the lot. I have encountered idiots in the showroom, and have shared some of those stories with you over the past year. But quite frankly, most of those "takes" take the cake!

It's the stories about what takes place during negotiations or crashes in the parking lot, or tantrums in the finance offices that I remember most.

graphicguy

Fezo.....great news!

oldfarmer50

"...ask..."

That sure isn't the Brandon I dealt with. Could be his father.

That reminds me, when I asked Brandon if there was any special financing available on the IS350 he said he didn't recall because most of their customers paid cash. Talk about dealing with the top tier.

sterlingdog

Wonderful news to hear!

Richard

driver100

I can only speak to Mercedes, since that is all I have knowledge about.

I'll check it out when I get a chance.

I thought I could have that black plastic material put on my roof and people would think I had a panaramic sunroof...kind of like a phony vinyl roof, great for Florida....hey, maybe a black plastic roof over a vinyl roof.

driver100

I'm sure that the Ford Mustang had an option to have the entire roof glass but nothing opened.

That's what I think the Kia has...it is just for show.

driver100

, but now we never even remember that we have them.

That's what we found...it is nice to have on a cloudy or cool day. But, on a hot day it gets closed, and I forget I have it.

Easy to forget these days, I was thinking of hiring a few kids to keep score for us in tennis, we seem to forget where we are at a lot.

abacomike

thought I could have that black plastic material put on my roof and people would think I had a panaramic sunroof...kind of like a phony vinyl roof, great for Florida....hey, maybe a black plastic roof over a vinyl roof.

*driver, we ALL know you better than that. You are not the sort of person who would put a dark plastic covering on the roof of your car just to let others think you have the panorama sunroof. You are the kind of guy who would trade in your new car for one with that kind of "real" roof if you really wanted it. Now tell me I'm wrong!!

driver100

Prank vs. Prank

Some of the stuff they did wasn't too bad for amateurs....but how can these idiots waste salespeoples time like that?

I wonder if they have real jobs?

driver100

kind of guy who would trade in your new car for one with that kind of "real" roof if you really wanted it.

You know me too well.

Sometimes I do see an old Grand Marquis, Lincoln, Cadillac down here and they are all pimped up, and it seems that it could be a lot of fun to have an extra car like that. Just use it for special occassions...like going to Bob Evans for the Early Bird Special.

imidazol97

I was perusing the Dayton car show info for this weekend to see if I was even interested in paying to see cars in a group... I found there was a contest for $15000 toward purchase of a car. However, read this rule:
"8. In the order in which the finalists were drawn, each of the five (5) finalists will participate in an athletic event. Regulations describing the athletic event will be provided to each finalist on Sunday, February 24th, 2013 prior to commencement of the event. The first finalist to successfully accomplish the challenge will be the grand prize winner. In the event that no finalist successfully accomplishes the challenge, no Grand Prize will be awarded."

Page with link to rules below middle

Sounds like they're not even going to award the prize if some physical test can't be made by any of the 5? What physical test? Lifting 250 pounds? Running 1 mile in 5 minutes. Shooting a basketball into the hoop from midcourt? Putting 9 golf balls into the cup at one time like the current viral video?

What's with this. AARP should file a suit about how this is unfair to older, or less capable, people?

The Dayton Area Auto Dealers sponsors it but their address is 85 miles away in Dublin, OH, an upscale suburb of Columbus. Wouldn't ya think they'd have a local, Dayton, address?

jmonroe

Meanwhile, I was up at the doc for the three week check up (went in the Mazda) and all is looking good!

Great news. Don’t screw it up now.

jmonroe

jmonroe

The Dayton Area Auto Dealers sponsors it but their address is 85 miles away in Dublin, OH, an upscale suburb of Columbus.

Mrs. j’s 2012 Legacy H6 (‘dino’ did you catch this ) came from the Subie dealer in Dublin. The showroom was not upscale, petty ordinary really, but I’ve gotten an email lately to come in because of their remodeling sale. I asked Mrs. j if she wanted to go get a “construction deal” (that’s the way they are advertising it). You’ll never guess what kind of a look she gave me. :sick:

jmonroe

isellhondas

I turn my back for awhile and we have a death in the family (so sorry!) a fall down the stairs (sorry again!), kidney stones and hospital stays!

You guys...knock this stuff off!!

I'm sure not getting on any ladders!

driver100

Regulations describing the athletic event will be provided to each finalist on Sunday, February 24th, 2013 prior to commencement of the event.

I guess you can enter the contest and when they tell you what this athletic event will be you can decide whether to continue or not. But, that is very weird. Maybe the prize is being offered by a gym or something, and they want only people who are athletic to apply, since they will be bombarding all contestants with offers to join their gym.

It could be they just want to do a fun thing to pick a winner. Like do a putt and see who can get it in.

Last night we went to a Tampa Lighning vs Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game. You have to do it once in your life just to find out why you don't want to ever do this again.

We went 2 years ago and bought tickets online, they were $40 each. The place was only 1/4 full and they were selling tickets outside for $10. This time we got there 2 hours early and they were close to sold out. We had 4 people and I told the ticket guy we needed 4 tickets. He said it would cost $120 and they were right at mid-ice.

I thought that was good for 4 tickets, but he said, no, that was for one ticket! Who in their right mind would pay $120 for a ticket to a hockey game....$240 a couple?????

We said we will sit in the end in the nosebleed section. He got us tickets in the top seats....about as high as man has gone in an indoor rink, right at the end....with organ pipes about 50 feet away. The noise was unbelievable.

We ate at a noisy restaurant that had a bowling alley in the middle and loud rock music. Impossible to have a normal conversation. It was OK over expensive and just adequate food.

Glad we ate there because inside coffee was $5, a beer $6 or a full mug $9, hotdog $6, plain hamburger $8.

I say it is always good to go every few years just to remember why I don't ever want to go again. Oh yeh, parking is $20 and about a 5 block walk.

Not only that but Toronto lost....had to find out later,....we were all happy to leave after the 2nd period.

jmonroe

Who in their right mind would pay $120 for a ticket to a hockey game…

Americans do it all the time. No telling what their limit is to watch Canadians fight with each other for 3 periods. We have a saying here…“I went to fight and a hockey game broke out”. :confuse:

As you found out, on average, NHL tickets cost more than NFL tickets. That will be a cold day in Hawaii when I fall for that.

jmonroe

verdugo

The regulars here remember how I was jumped on by a few of the sales guys here a few years back just for calling a local dealer and asking what the DOC fee was in PA because I wanted to confirm that they had just gone up to $150 from $55 back in ’09. It seems like just taking the call counted as a hit against the poor salesman’s up count. OH BOY was that something?

I remember that. They wanted to lynch you! I didn't see what the big deal was.

robr2

Last night we went to a Tampa Lighning vs Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game. You have to do it once in your life just to find out why you don't want to ever do this again.

...and you call yourself a Canadian.

Not only that but Toronto lost...

You were surprised??

abacomike

Just got back from a long day out with my Dad. I wanted to keep him out all day because he said he hasn't been sleeping very well - thought if I got him really worn out, he'd sleep through the night.

We started out at about 9:45 AM and drove out to Sawgrass Mills to take a nice long walk through their nearly 1 mile of indoor outlet stores. I also needed some new underwear and the Jockey Outlet Store was having a big sale - 40% off if you buy three packages of T shirts and 3 packages of Briefs + another 20% off the total. After picking up the merchandise at a great price, we stopped off at their food court for lunch.

On the way home, I stopped for gasoline - $4.39 a gallon which was the cheapest premium I could find - I gritted my teeth a cursed Washington as every dollar rang up - $68.00 I pumped into my tank - what a crock of ....

We stopped off at home and I caught up on some email, and then we drove over to the Jaguar dealership in Pompano Beach - I've never driven one so I thought I'd try one out.

The dealership is located just off I-95. I walked in with Dad and browsed a little, sitting in an XF. A salesman walked over to me and asked if I had any questions. I told him I'd like to test drive an XF turbo to see if I would like it enough to buy one. He asked me what I was driving - I told him a Mercedes Benz E 350 Sport Sedan. He asked what kind of options I had and I told him. He then says to me, "...you don't want to drive an XF Jaquar - you won't like it!" I asked him why he thought that. He responded, "...I've never been able to get a customer who drove an E or S class Mercedes to switch to a Jaguar, so I don't want to waste your time or my time!"

I have to honestly say that I have never been denied a demo drive before on my entire life (except in 1967 when I walked into a Chevy dealer and asked to test drive a Corvette and was told I couldn't afford one - and then went to the manager and paid cash for it after which I was allowed to test drive my own car). Can you imagine the idiocy of that salesman.

I asked him if I could still test drive one. His response was "...I'll have to speak with my manager!" I told him not to bother - that I would like to speak to his manager. Well, I got to test drive an XF, and by gosh, he was right. There is no way I would own a car like that. It was very incomfortable in the driver's seat. I tried adjusting the seat but could not get my right leg from being jammed into the front of the console. Me head was flush against the sunroof. The car was very fast, handled nicely, but there was absolutely no room in the back seat.

But I truly could not believe this salesman - not letting me drive an XF. I can easily see why he can't sell a Mercedes owner a Jaguar. HE WON'T LET THEM DRIVE ONE!

driver100

As you found out, on average, NHL tickets cost more than NFL tickets.

And if you could buy tickets to see a game in Toronto, they would have been double that....but, there is no way us normal people can get tickets for a game in Toronto. Sold out for years.............

"A fight waiting for a game to happen." lol but true!

driver100

...and you call yourself a Canadian.
Not only that but Toronto lost...
You were surprised??

I am ashamed to admit, I can't skate. My parents always bought me these cheap used skates and they were never sharp enough or strong enough to use. I did become pretty good at playing goalie which doesn't require much skating. If I ever actually had to go skating I would just pretend I was an American, and say loudly, "Well, when are we going back to Arizona?"

I thought Toronto would win...they were on a 6 game winning streak and they had shut outs in their last 2 games.

I guess it's downhill for the rest of the year...which is what usually happens.

I

explorerx4

Fezo,
Glad to see things are looking up.
I have a question for you.
What's that song you posted about a pickup truck maybe a year ago or so?
I want to link to it for someone on another forum.

driver100

...I've never been able to get a customer who drove an E or S class Mercedes to switch to a Jaguar, so I don't want to waste your time or my time!"

I think he really meant he didn't want to waste HIS time.

I sat in a Jaguar in the showroom when I was looking at the 2008 bmw 328 next door. I think there was some truth in what this salesman was saying.

The Jaguar seemed to be made for older people who like the idea of an older more classic car. I found it to be old fashioned....small windows, high instrument panel and hood, small windows. I'll admit the XF seems aimed for a younger market.

I see a lot of Jags around Longboat Key, and a lot of them are painted in two tone colors, and obviously driven by older type people who aren't interested in performance. They are looking more for traditional quality. This is questionable for me to say, but I know some people want a European luxury car, but they won't buy a German made car for whatever reason....could be someone who was in WWII.

I get the impression Jaguar appeals to a very targeted audience, and I am sure they will try to appeal to a broader group to survive, but, it is hard to catch up to the performance leaders.

I do agree though, he should have given you a test drive. You never know who could be a good customer. And, if you didn't buy you might know someone who would have liked that car. I think he was out to prove his theory was right and to keep his record...no buyers switch from an MB to a Jag.

boomchek

Wow, not the right attitiude to have. And I bet you it's not like the dealership was swarmed with people buying them left and right where he didn't have time to take you out in one.

That's pretty poor customer service coming from a luxury dealer.

Reminds me when I went to a cofee shop that was for sale (that I was scoping out because I was going to buy it), and the first thing my wife and I are told when walking in "you'll have to wait 30 minutes".

When we explainerd we just wanted a cofee then then owner/operator said, oh ok, I'll be with you in a moment, if you want food it'll be 30 minutes.

If I was somebody living or working in the area and looking for a place for lunch I would not step foot in there again as I would assume that it's a 30 minute wait for any food during the day.

fezo

What's that song you posted about a pickup truck maybe a year ago or so?

You mean this one?

Always a favorite. It's even a sales story!

abacomike

That's pretty poor customer service coming from a luxury dealer.

Poor customer service presupposes that some service was offered. On this case, there was none offered.

What I don't understand is how the sales manager keeps this guy on the sales force. If I was the sales manager, I would have fired him as soon as I left the dealership. Too many sales professionals think the can spot a sale or no sale customer after 1 minute of verbal interaction. Those are the kinds of salesman that should be making hamburgers at McDonalds. When I trained my salespeople, I tried to convey to them that everyone who walks into the showroom is a customer who will buy a car - maybe not immediately or from that particular salesman, but maybe tomorrow, next week or next month. The customer will come back if he/she feels the salesperson went out of his/her way to accommodate their needs. I told them that every customer is looking for the salesperson who can sell them a car. You have to earn the right to sell them a car by how well you treat them

Unfortunately, most salespeople who sell cars never understand that concept. Those who do make a good living selling cars.

jmonroe

I am ashamed to admit, I can't skate. My parents always bought me these cheap used skates and they were never sharp enough or strong enough to use. I did become pretty good at playing goalie which doesn't require much skating.

You are right, for a Canadian not to know how to skate, that is shameful.

Grandson #2 now 8 (Son #1’s second son) is very much into hockey. This is his first year and he is doing “very well” and those are the words from his coach. His skating needs improvement but I’ve heard that for a first year kid he is way ahead of the curve. He jumped at the chance to try out for goalie and did very well for the 3 week tryout period he was given. Now it's another kids turn and he’s back out on the ice. I think he liked the idea of playing goalie because his skating is not up to his standards although I’ve been told that isn’t the reason why he was asked. This kid is very athletic and everything in life has come easy for him including school work.

Just this past weekend we went to watch him play up in Erie PA at a cross ice hockey jamboree. Just his luck, on Saturday morning when he woke up he had a temperature of 102 F. He was given some Ibuprofen and we were not going to go even though we made overnight reservations at a hotel for Saturday night up in Erie. The only reason we went was because his older brother was going to celebrate his 11 birthday and my DIL had already bought a huge sheet cake to celebrate with the hockey team. The team was looking forward to the party after their jamboree back at the hotel and my DIL didn’t want to disappoint them. So, that’s why we all went even though the 11 year old is not on the team. When we were having lunch up in Erie my DIL called his coach and told him that although his temperature was now a little over 99 she didn’t think that it was a good idea for him to play but that he’d come to the game to support the team since he was feeling better. Well, he had a total fit and said, “I’m playing. Period. Get that through you head. I didn’t come up here to watch”. :mad: We all figured he’d go out on the ice, get manhandled then he’d be pulled to the bench. Wrong, he scored 7 goals in three games and the coach said afterwards, “We have another out of town jamboree next week in Morgantown WV. Can you get him sick again for next week”. Some kids have all the luck.

Son #1 likes the idea that he is doing well both on the ice and in goal but said, “Now I’m between a rock and a hard place. Hockey is expensive enough as it is and goalie gear is even worse”. Some fathers can’t match their son’s talents.

jmonroe

dino001

It is instant gratification thing. Present on all levels, from sales force, to management, to owners. Some people take position that long term we will all be dead, so it is only today that counts. They often have no clue, why things or events turn on them, they'll often say it was not their fault and nobody could see it coming.

abacomike

It is instant gratification thing. Present on all levels, from sales force, to management, to owners. Some people take position that long term we will all be dead, so it is only today that counts. They often have no clue, why things or events turn on them, they'll often say it was not their fault and nobody could see it coming.

I agree totally. Unfortunately, many salespeople live paycheck to paycheck, if that, and must bring home enough each week to pay the bills. So I don't get angry when I see this sort of stuff going on, just frustrated. Young people selling cars is nice to see, but they need to make enough money to keep them interested in selling cars. I always paid my salespeople a base salary, enough for them to pay the rent and put food on their table. If they didn't sell enough cars, after individualized training (and after throwing a few bones their way) I had to let them go after 90 days. But everyone I hired always had at least 90 days to show me if they had what it takes.

jmonroe - you have so much to live for!

*jmonroe, it sounds like your kids and grand kids give you much pleasure and satisfaction - I am so very happy for you and the family.

I have 2 grandsons. One of them, the 7 year old has Asperger's syndrome with AD/HD and some autism. His oral language is very difficult to understand. My older grandson (his brother) is a football player and great baseball player - very athletic and very bright - I am very proud of him. I just wish I could do something to help the younger one - but unfortunately, nothing we have tried helps.

isellhondas

Well, in the end, that salesman turned out to be 100% correct.

No, he shouldn't have taken that position but he may have been so burned out by joyriders and negative comments from MErcedes owners that he knew driving that car would be a waste of his time.

I have to admit that after being "stroked" hundreds of times I too learned to sterotype customers. ANYONE in the business will do this.

But, I always reminded myself that it wasn't my store and I did whatever I could to make a deal happen. Sometimes (not often) I was dead wrong about a customer and I had to remind myself of that.

I once had a woman test drive four used cars. The last one was a red Prelude. She drove like crap, scared the hell out of me and when we got back, she told me " I would never buy a red car and the back seat is way too small"

Funny thing, the color didn't change during the test drive and neither did the size of the back seat. This was (of course) on a busy Saturday!

Then one dark rainy night I had a guy ask to drive a new Passport. No problem! I had to move four cars to get the closest one out. This was at
8:45 and we closed at 9:00. Naturally he wanted to drive it on the freeway, make circles in a parking lot etc. We got back at 9:30.

It was at that point that he told me..." Oh, my brother in Ohio is thinking about buiying one and he wanted my opinion"

One of my more fun nights!