It was a slow Tuesday morning at the new car lot. The salesmen sat around drinking coffee and waiting for the next customer to pounce on. The sky was gray, there was mist and the showroom was empty. Very empty. Since the Great Recession had begun, selling cars had been tough. To quote one salesman, “The car business isn’t for wussies.”
“I need one more car to get my goal for the month, ” the athletic salesman boasted. “I’ll bet you $100 that I get a sale before anyone else!” Several voices cried out in unison, “You’re on.” You could cut the cockiness in the room with a knife.
A forty-something lady walked through the door. The salesmen were on her like fleas on a dog.
Over in the corner sat a brand new salesman. His name was Scotty and had recently graduated from college. The other salesmen teased him and called him “kid.” They laughed at his trusting nature and positive outlook. “You’re too honest, kid!” He constantly fell victim to their pranks and practical jokes.
Scotty noticed an elderly man walk through the double glass doors. He was white-headed, a little overweight and wearing a pair of muddy overalls. The sun had damaged his skin, leaving a field of wrinkles on his face. His boots were worn and he walked with a slight limp. A quick scan of the room showed that the rest of the salesmen thought he was a waste of their time — especially since he was looking at the most expensive sports car in the middle of the showroom.
The athletic salesman said, “Someone show him to the used lot to get him an old beat-up truck.” The other salesmen chuckled.
Scotty got up out of his chair and walked over to the man. “May I help you?”
“Yes, I’d like to buy this car.”
Ralph smiled and said, “Then I can help you.”
At that moment, the old man pulled out a checkbook and wrote a check. “Is this enough?”
The man, the richest man in the tri-county area, wrote a check for the price of the car. The rest of the salesmen’s jaws dropped.
“My wife and I need something sporty to ride to church in. The check’s good. If it bounces, you can have a 1,000 of my acres.” Both Scotty and his customer laughed.
After the paperwork was filled out and the car had driven off the lot, Scotty walked past the athletic salesman and said, “I’ll take a check for that $100 — no wait, better make it cash. I can’t tell by looking at you if you can afford it. Maybe someday you’ll learn that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
The stunned salesman gave Scotty his money. The rest of the salesmen in the showroom just looked at the kid in silence.
Scotty sat down, looked at the $100 bill and laughed to himself. On that gray Tuesday morning, he had sold his uncle a car. And his cocky coworkers were none the wiser.
Love it! also, I can relate!! Being in the car biz myself, when I was in my early 20’s I worked (at that time) the 3rd or 4th largest volume dealer in the country for the particular franchise brand that they sold.
In my case it wasn’t an ol’ man that came in to look. It was a kid younger than me, out the 1/2 salesmen on the floor that noticed him walking the inventory, they all jokingly told me “hey Mississippi ya gotta a customer out there!” I went out, literally only spent about 1/2 hour with the kid, found a vehicle, test drove it. Then the kid came on in & wrote a good check for the price of the vehicle. Needless to say the other salesmen were purdy quiet for the rest of the evening at work.
The other time that it happened was even worse for the other salesmen involved. A kid in his early 20’s was on the front row looking at 60 to 80 thousand dollar Dodge Viper’s with his teenage brother. A salesman had (unwillingly) bumped into them & seemed forced to answer their questions. So much so that when a good looking lady drove onto the lot in a Lexus S.U.V. & let her window down to ask questions, that salesman called me over to “deal with” the young guy looking at the vipers.
Similar to the other situation, I did sale a Dodge Viper to the kid. (Awesome test drive by the way). The kid put about 1/3 down & achieved financing for the rest & did make me work thru a week long negotiation over the price. Turned out the kid owned huge Apartment building downtown & generated a massive income for himself (even though he drove up in a 10 or 15 year old Jeep Cherokee that had seen it’s better days)
After the sell, I had to deal with that other salesmen trying to lay claim to half my commission because he felt since he’d “turned over the customer” to me, that the kid was his customer 1st. Sheesh. Anyways that kid was an interesting fellow, kept in contact for years after that.
And your right MR, you should NEVER Judge a book by its cover.
‘out of the 1/2 *dozen* salesmen on the floor’
My FIL always pays cash for his cars. He walked in a dealership many years ago and told the salesman he wanted to buy a certain car. The salesman looked at the country fellow and told him he couldn’t afford it, but he would show him something else. My FIL walked out and across the street and drove out in a new car paid for in cash. (that was when you still use cash without reporting it to the Federal government.
The last car he bought was from a dealer in Jackson. He called me and told me what he wanted. I went and picked it out. Then I was introduced to a brand new salesman. I told the salesman that my FIL will be here after lunch to pick it up. Have it serviced and ready. I picked up my FIL, took him to the dealership and he bought it on the spot without even driving it. Paid for it in a lump sum via check. I bet that was the easiest sale that young man ever had.
My dad had a similar story when he was young selling at the family Chevrolet dealership. He sold to a man in overalls who pulled cash out of his bib.