notes and views on crm, social media, and the human side of information technology

How to sell a used car

How to compete in an over-crowded field? If your field is occupied by dishonest bullies and has no reputation whatsoever, consider yourself lucky: you can win cheap - by just being nice.

I got a real bargain yesterday when I bought a low-mileage Chrysler Sebring. It was a run-down, shotgun kind of place with a couple dozen rides of questionable quality. Among them, a sleek blue 300M that I had originally gone for.

But there was another buyer, albeit with an expired reservation, and the air had a certain pre-storm feeling. I prepped for a fist-fight.

Luckily, the shop owner produced the Sebring that had half the miles and was 2 years younger. Both me and the other guy drove away happy.

What was so surreal about my experience was the stark contrast between the place (really, really low) and the three guys than ran it (really, really nice). Used car salesmen usually leave you feeling like you crawled through the mud, and these couldn’t be more different.

In an industry infamous for its sleazy practices, every experience that’s just normal or good enough is actually a strong differentiator. If your competitors are a bunch of jerks, first make sure you are not acting as a jerk, too (you might be), then make a big point of surprising your customers by how nice a guy you are.

Running a software consultancy? Lawyering? Selling insurance? Here’s your chance to change the world.

Additional reading

March 27, 2008 | Filed Under CRM 

comments

Leave a Reply