I woke up yesterday morning as I usually do, slowly, putting both feet on the ground before standing, so as not to fall flat on my face. I admit I'm not as steady as I used to be, especially since acquiring the agony of da feet.
It's six am and I have to get ready for another day out on the lot. As most of you know I'm a salesman for Superior Toyota of Merriam, soon to be Rick Hendrick's Toyota as soon as we move into our new location at 67th and I-35. A larger new state of the art building that will hold both the New and Used sales staffs.
After showering I usually feel much better about getting out and going to work. I never decide beforehand how I'm going to feel but I know that if I want to be successful today I have to have a positive attitude, forget the aged aches and pains, the FFA, overlook the tightness in my back or the shaking of the knees or whether the hips will make it through the day. I tell myself, keep smiling and all of the above will disappear. Sometimes it does, in fact, most of the time, I feel pretty good, especially at my age.
I have to get ready for a customer that is coming in to purchase a car today after coming in three previous times without making a buying decision. She called last night and said she's ready to buy but does not want to fiddle around and spend all day with the process.
When she finally arrives she decides that she does not want to sit in my office and do the paper work. "It's too nice a day" she says, and it is, "Let's do it outside". It's a first for me but my manager says go ahead, so we did. We completed all the initial paperwork out on the trunk of her new car. So far we've only spent 18 minutes. She had already informed me that she was in a sort of rush so we should move quickly. She didn't know that she was working with Rapid Ron.
I took her down to our finance office to complete the transaction and while she was there I drove her car down to detail to get it ready for presentation and delivery. She finishes at the same time her car comes up and she's on her way after spending less than an hour, a new all time record, at least for me.
Two minutes after she drove off the lot, my cell phone rings and she's calling me back. I knew it was too good to be true, what could be wrong, did I screwup which would not be unusual. Was the there something wrong with the car, did she run out of gas, what is it. I answer the phone and she tells me that she left her garage door opener in her old car and she was turning around and coming back. I worried for nothing, all that anxiety for nothing. I grabbed her opener, went to the edge of the lot, caught her turning in, handed it through her window and she yells back "Ron you rock!"
I just hope that she feels that way when she receives her survey and she at least remembers my name instead of that short old guy.
The rest of the afternoon I had that wonderful feeling that it was truly a great day. The weather was beautiful, I wasn't hurting and I continued to make people smile, which made it another very special day and I felt 20 years younger.
I guess all it takes is making a sale and everything is good.
