It was my birthday yesterday and I received over 105 greetings from all over the country, yes I counted. I didn't realize that so many people were either on my Facebook or e-mail pages until my phone started binging all thru the day.
It started when I woke up and my wife gave me a big birthday kiss. She always kisses me in the morning but this kiss was special. She had never kissed a 79 year old man on the lips before, I was the first.
When I got to work and attended our Saturday morning meeting I was surprised and pleased that my manager Brad mentioned my birthday to the whole staff and wished me a Happy day. My honey had also baked a sugar free cake that I brought to work and as usual it tasted great.
The weather was nice and it was a good day to be outside, enjoy the sun and naturally I wore a hat (you hear that honey).
About 2 o'clock I saw a couple get out of a Sequoia and walk toward the back of the lot where a few new Highlanders were parked. The new Highlanders have become our hot new car of the year and are being sold as if they were free. The last time I experienced these types of sales was when gas went up to $4.oo + a gallon and the Prius' were flowing out the door.
When the new Rav 4s came out, same thing, on the lot, out the door. Back to the couple. "Hi my name is Ron, Welcome to Hendricks Toyota and your name is?" "We're not here to buy, we just drove bye and thought we would stop and look at the new Highlander."
The young man said he would like to drive the Hybrid and gas model to see what the difference might be. I retrieved the keys for two of the cars and we went for a test drive. After driving both they decided on the gas model and they loved the one they were in since it had an entertainment unit.
"Why don't you come inside and let me give you some numbers in case you change your mind and decide to buy." "As we said, we're just looking, we won't be ready for a few months." "That's fine" I said. "It will only take a few minutes and you can see if our numbers are close enough for you to purchase
since you like the vehicle we were in and there's no obligation."
They agreed and told me they had the time. They lived in a small town about 50 miles from us and came in looking for things for the home they're remodeling, and not a car.
While we were waiting for the paperwork to come back from the tower they told me that if our numbers were OK and the rate, they might re consider.
When the buyers sheet came back they both said, "It looks OK but we're going to go home and think about it." When people decide to leave we have one of our managers come over to do an exit TO, thanking them for coming in and if they had any questions concerning the car or my presentation.
As they were walking back to their car, the woman wished me a Happy Birthday since they heard people saying it to me while they were at my desk.
"How would you like to make this a very special birthday by purchasing this car today" I said jokingly. They looked at each other and said to me, "if you can get the numbers closer to what we want to pay and give me a better rate than my bank, you've got a sale."
To make the story come to an end, they bought the car. While he was in the restroom, she tells me, "Ron, the reason we came back in is because you impressed us with your knowledge of the car, your sense of humor and more than anything, the feeling of trust. I can't tell you how that made me feel, yes I can, it made feel great. I had not only done my job but I had made some new friends.
So you never know, it's always possible to turn a negative into a positive.
It turned out to be a great Birthday.
Be sure to mark one of the boxes below.
No comments:
Post a Comment