Good salesmanship still works
And you can’t fake sincerity
Ambushed at the service counter. But it was such a smooth, subtle switch to the sales pitch that I was persuaded to sit down and listen.
Before I got out of the car at the dealership service bay, I noticed the well-dressed young man coming to greet me who did not look like a service technician. He said, “Good morning, Mr. Chatterson, let me check you in to get your winter tires installed”, as he handed me the service ticket, “but you’re on a short list of customers this morning that I wanted to talk to about trading in your car today. It has low mileage and good trade-in value and we have some exceptional deals right now that would make it easy for you to trade up to a new one.”
How’s that for a well delivered up-sell? Much more appealing than “Would you like fries with that?”
He handed me a cup of freshly brewed coffee and led me to his desk. How could I resist. I’m an entrepreneur and business consultant and I was appreciating the demonstration of The Four P’s of Salesmanship: Polite, Patient, Persistent, & Persuasive. He almost had me into a new convertible on a cold windy winter day in Montreal. The deal was very good this time of year!
But then they fell back on the objectionable old auto sales routine of “Let me introduce you to the Sales Manager, maybe he can do even better.” Older guy, more expensive suit, big hearty handshake, high energy, fast talker and “Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Chatterson.” A forced fake friendliness that sent me back to the service department for another coffee.
Be better. Do better.
Your Uncle Ralph, Del Chatterson
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