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RESPECT COST YOU NOTHING

Even a farmer in dirty overalls deserves the respect and attention of a car salesperson because what you wear does not determine if you can purchase. I have been selling cars for a very long time and I have learned that how a person looks, or how they talk does determine if they can or will buy. Just because they wear designer clothes, it does not mean they can buy, or if they are wearing dirty overalls does not mean they cannot buy. A designer outfit cost a lot of money, and many people resort to maxing out their credit cards just to purchase it, which can hurt their creditworthiness. Back during the recession of the early 1980s, I was working late on a Saturday night, and an old man wearing dirty overalls drove on the lot in a beat up old pickup truck. None of the other salespeople were interested, but I rushed out to greet him. He wanted to look at a new fully loaded three-quarter ton pickup truck. As a matter of fact, he wanted to look at the biggest, most expensive one we had on the lot. When I went inside to get the keys to take him on a test drive, my manger warned me not to waste my time. He said, "That old man cannot even buy chewing tobacco on credit". He even said me that if I made him late getting home by "fooling around with that old man" that I would regret it. I broke out into a full run getting back to the truck, and we went the test drive. During that test drive, I did not discuss his credit, or ask him about his income. I just listened while he talked on and on about how proud he was that he son was graduating from Ole Miss, and how he wanted to surprise him with a new truck. He talked about his "farm", which turned out to be one of the biggest farms in the Mississippi Delta. He asked me a few questions about the truck which I eagerly answered. As we pulled into the dealership, he reached under the seat and pulled out a dirty old paper bag filled with cash. He said that it was the down payment, and instructed me to call his personal banker the next morning and that he would be expecting my call. He said "By the way I came dressed this way because I wanted to avoid a certain type salespeople, but I have enjoyed doing business with you". He just wanted me to listen to him talk about his son and his farm because that was what was important to him. He did not want me to question him endlessly. If I had made that mistake I would lost that sale because he was a cagey old man that had no plans to

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