What a Used-Car Salesman Taught Me About Being an Effective Business Owner

Sunday - 11am. Google told me the service department would be open and I was at a loss for how to fix my car key, so my car wouldn't fail on me that afternoon driving the hour-long trip I was about to make.

I arrived at the dealership and the doors were locked. No one was home.

A kind man from the Used Car lot came over and said "Sorry ma'am. Service is closed on Sundays." I thought about explaining that Google told me it would be open but knew that wouldn't do me any good. Instead I inquired whether this man could help.

"Not us" he said. "We can't fix these things."

Knowing it would be several days before I could get back there, I asked if there was anything he could do. Instead of saying "No" one more time, the man thought about it and said "if you want to go buy a new key battery, I'll try and fix it for you just to see if it works."

And I did. And it did. I was overjoyed and relieved.

What happened next is one of the best lessons a small business owner can learn:

The salesman gave me his card and said "last time I fixed someone's key, they bought a car from me" with a wide smile. I shared I was not in the market for a new car, but I told the salesman I was impressed with the effort and ask.

He knew that he had provided me with value, and a solution to my problem, and the sale ask was warranted.

The salesman laughed and said "I thought I'd try anyway. It's my job!" And he was right to do it. It IS his job. And he had done a good deed for me, had helped me, had "won me over" so to speak.

It made me realize a few things about running a business:

(1) Provide value in creative ways: Instead of giving up on helping me, the salesman came up with a solution for me quickly,.

(2) Ask for the sale: The salesman didn't know I wasn't in the market for a car, but if I was, I would have absolutely talked to him about it given how kind and sincere he was. He was right to ask!

(3) Be kind and open: If this man had continued to say "No" to me I would have walked away angry, not wanting to work with this dealership again. This salesman knew I was a previous customer so he was priming the pump for future sales. He was respecting my role as his customer and knew I had a problem he could potentially solve.

(4) Do your job well: This man came up with a way to sneak a sales pitch in and I respect him for it.

In the end I sent a few pizzas to the office as a gesture of thanks. It was the least I could do for a kind, creative and really good salesman who helped solve a problem for me on a day I most needed it.

I'll be remembering the salesman's approach when I question how to provide the most value to our members, our prospects and our network. Providing value, being kind and asking for the sale. Done and done!