Dealers Who Don't Get It

Many dealers are great, they are entrepreneurs. They love their businesses. But...there are dealers who give away business.

I practically begged to be allowed to buy a product from a local dealer. They wouldn't let me. They said I'd have to schedule a time to come back and try the product. It turns out they have a competitor an hour away who told me to stop by any time to check out the same product. Guess what? I bought the product from the dealer an hour away.

Last weekend I went back to the local dealer again to buy some accessories. My total sale would have amounted to about a hundred bucks of profit for them. But I made a critical mistake: I showed up at 4:05 PM on a Saturday. I walked up, the lot had plenty of cars, the showroom had a dozen customers in it, but the door was locked. A guy carefully opened the door and said in a stern voice, "We're closed. We close at four." I turned around and began to walk away as he asked, "See you Monday?" I turned and replied, "No." (Funny thing, I don't think they're open on Mondays either.)

For all he knew, I was there to buy a $30,000 product. But after all, they close at 4:00 PM on a Saturday. So now I'll buy those accessories online at a discount. I may have to wait three or four days, but I can stand that.

Mr. Dealer, allow me to buy. Humor me if I don't know the secret handshake at your dealership or if I don't know your store hours. I have money to spend if you allow me to trade it for the product you have in your showroom.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
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