Real Estate Lessons From The Car Lot
After eight years of loyal service, it became time to retire the beloved Liberty. She served with distinction (got me through the bulk of the Great Recession with no car note), but facing a busy summer I decided to go with something new.
The Honda Pilot had caught my eye, so with pricing research in hand I headed to the local dealer. Thankfully the dealer matched an out of town price so I was able to buy local. In addition to four years of debt, I was able to pick up some real estate lessons from the dealer...
1) Successful car sales folks arrive early-- The "ten deal a month club" get to work before 8am.
2) There was no middle class-- In speaking with my sales guy there are two groups at the dealer. 1) the ten deal gang, and 2) the broke folks. More about them in a moment...
3) The high rollers produce their own business-- I asked my sales person how they decided who helped a drive in consumer, known as an "up". He shrugged his shoulders and said he was not sure how the dealer handled it. Drive ups seem to have a low probablity of buying, sort of sounds like real estate.
4) Prospecting is King-- My sales person got me some free asseccories, then slapped a paper down and asked for the names/numbers of three people I knew looking to buy a car. Had he been a women I would have kissed him. I almost did anyway.
5) Customer Service is Key-- Since I wasn't trading in my Jeep, I needed a ride to the dealership. My guy picked me up at the house. Should he have done this? Of course! But what made me happy is that I did not have to ask. HE anticipated my need and offered a solution. Way to go!
I left Walker Honda with a New 2013 Pilot and a stack of my guy's business cards. Need to be treated like a king when buying your next car? Call James Cooksey (318) 308-1035. Yes, that's his cell phone. And he generally picks it up before the third ring! If he ever decides to sell real estate in my market I am in trouble!
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