Buying Advice A dealer looking for your input

[crazyal]

600?!?!? 600 dollars difference!?

Yeah, I'd be a but upset too.

I thought we might have been talking about $1000-1500 dollars difference. Or more.

WOW. I'm floored.

If this tractor wasn't for farm use there could have been taxes that also came into play. If it was just $600 I would rather sit on the tractor and look it over at the dealer without any of the pressure of "I just drove all the way here and you're not happy because of that?" attitude.

 

[TigerfaninAR]

Wow 600 dollars!

Its taken a while but I've learned that the ones who take that much of your time aren't the best customer/friends/you name it. I would never have someone at their place of business 3 hours on off hours. I guarentee this person feels they did everything ethically correct and would say "thats just how it goes". Its not that they didn't buy from you its they took that much of your time. If I would have heard the first part of your story I would have bet they didn't buy from you. That's the public. Sure there are "types" of people and one type is the ME type and thats who you dealt with. I bet he wouldn't take 3 minutes off his lunch but would expect you to take 3 hours after close. Some will disagree with this I'm sure. I also believe that you did right and good will come around. Good luck, wish you were in my neck of the woods.:thumbsup:

 

[jimjdb]

You mentioned the relationship you established with this fellow- mayby it became too close and he was reluctant to approach you over the 600 dollars. You may have forgotten a cardinal rule of selling, "always be closing".
This customer went too long without being closed, you have to strike when the iron is hot and after one of you sessions with him you should have sealed the deal-not waited for him to close YOU. People WANT to be sold.
Now, don't become a victim over this one loss and do not become hardened to customers over it. Learn from the incident and don't forget that your mission is to sell product, you became caught up in a personal relationship you assumed you had formed and it cost you money and confidence. Sure , you were treated poorly and many of those posting want to give you a shoulder to lean on because they would never do such a thing- but you need to examine the whole scenario again and use it as a learning experience. The easy way out is to blame the customer for the loss. Good luck!

 

[architect]

Just a question, you stated you were a NE dealer and the guy bought in PA, if he did not live in PA, he might not have paid tax on the out of state purchase, 6 or 7% of $35,000 is
over $2100.00. Same applies to the many members who have purchased out of state from Barlow Equipment.

 

[donn12]

You mentioned the relationship you established with this fellow- mayby it became too close and he was reluctant to approach you over the 600 dollars. You may have forgotten a cardinal rule of selling, "always be closing".
This customer went too long without being closed, you have to strike when the iron is hot and after one of you sessions with him you should have sealed the deal-not waited for him to close YOU. People WANT to be sold.
Now, don't become a victim over this one loss and do not become hardened to customers over it. Learn from the incident and don't forget that your mission is to sell product, you became caught up in a personal relationship you assumed you had formed and it cost you money and confidence. Sure , you were treated poorly and many of those posting want to give you a shoulder to lean on because they would never do such a thing- but you need to examine the whole scenario again and use it as a learning experience. The easy way out is to blame the customer for the loss. Good luck!

I agree 100%. The type of rejection you are dealing with will make you a better salesperson if you dont let it make you negative. The buyer took advantage - but you let him. Next time you think you have made a new friend, remember this and sharpen your teeth a little. What's the line from the movie? It ain't show friends its show business. The other guy was probably more direct and asked for the sale. The funny thing is the buyer might be mad at you because you tried to get an extra $600 out of him!

 

[crazyal]

I would also try to remember that even if you thought you had a good repour with the buyer he may not have felt the same. You or someone else could have turn him off, something about your dealership, or maybe a friend who had something bad to say about you. The thing is you just don't always know.

The next time a guy walks in and points to a Kubota and say's "I'll take that one" and with in minutes it's sold think of it as a balance of the karma scale.

 

[om21braz]

Morgan Kubota,
As others have stated, it sounds to me like you did all you could do for this customer. It's a tough environment, with tough although naive customers. Don't let this one deal get to you, just stick to your principles. Over the long run, you will reap what you sow. Our local dealer was happy to service all brands of tractors for many years, providing a Kubota loaner when the selling dealer would not, being a mechanic/encylopedia of knowledge more than salesman and seeing that most folks are very satisfied in order to be what they are today - good friends to community first and excellent/sucessful tractor dealer second.

 

[kozman]

I sympathize with the way Morgan feels. I would have at least gone back to you to see if you could match my offer from another dealership before buying elsewhere.

With that being said and being new at this, I live in New Engalnd as well (unless NE is Nebraska) and I did go back to the dealer that I talked to a few times. Once I got a quote from a dealership I found in KY, I brought it to my local dealership to see how close they could match it. They would not be able to do anything less than $1,500 away from my other offer. Needless to say, I went with the dealer in KY for that much of a spread.

As for service, where I live, I am sure the service is going to be good at the local dealership, but it is not going to be any different whether you buy it from them or someone else. You are not going to get a discount on service if you buy it locally. Most of the money the local dealers make is on the service of the tractor.

 

[kuboman]

My approach is to ask the dealer for his best deal. He gets one shot at the deal. The best deal gets it. I don't have time to be running back and forth trying to deal one against the other.
If the dealer is not prepared to give me his best deal first time then he loses the deal, quite simple really.

 

[bp fick]

You mentioned the relationship you established with this fellow- mayby it became too close and he was reluctant to approach you over the 600 dollars. You may have forgotten a cardinal rule of selling, "always be closing".
This customer went too long without being closed, you have to strike when the iron is hot and after one of you sessions with him you should have sealed the deal-not waited for him to close YOU. People WANT to be sold.
Now, don't become a victim over this one loss and do not become hardened to customers over it. Learn from the incident and don't forget that your mission is to sell product, you became caught up in a personal relationship you assumed you had formed and it cost you money and confidence. Sure , you were treated poorly and many of those posting want to give you a shoulder to lean on because they would never do such a thing- but you need to examine the whole scenario again and use it as a learning experience. The easy way out is to blame the customer for the loss. Good luck!

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