I love that we never find out exactly how many kids Michael has. Maybe he did have 100 kids so he could have 100 friends so no one could say no to being his friend.

And that is the difference between a good salesman and a good salesman (IMO). The former leaves people knowing they’ve been fed a line, but (maybe even just momentarily) believing it’s actually the best choice, all things considered. The latter leaves people with a feeling of contentment because their salesperson acknowledged the alternatives, acknowledged why they may consider other companies, yet still brought home the bacon.

I mean, people have short attention spans. If you just flout all the positives of something, people will walk away going “yeah, he’s right”, but once they’re on their own, will likely start thinking back and finding the holes in whatever “argument” and re-thinking their agreement.

Someone who preempts those inevitable later-thoughts with answers early-on, will seem like the more forthright salesperson. I’ve worked in sales and, as a 31 year-old, obviously been the target of sales “techniques” from myriad other institutions. 100% of the time I will go with the person who isn’t clearly trying to bullshit me, even if they’re more expensive.

For example, I moved about 40 miles away from my last apartment and eventually went to my new local dealership for my car for an oil change and check-up. I even called ahead for an “appointment “. Got there before they opened and was second in “line” for where they have you wait for a tech. It’s then my turn so I pull up, and the dude asks if I have an appointment and I confirm I do... and had given the lady taking appointments all of the necessary info about my car. He jots it down on his clipboard (never going to anything electronic) then asks me the basic numbers for my car (year, mileage, whatever, all the stuff I’d already given the lady on the phone. I don’t mind repeating info, but it’s pertinent to the story that I’d already given it to her). I’m just over 150,000 miles on the odometer, and as he asked for my keys and to step out of my car (the typically last and only steps for this part of the process), he immediately launches into a spiel about how I’m at 150,000 miles so I’ll need the 150,000 service as well as ‘this, that, and the other’. I don’t remember the specific other things he said, because as soon as he said I needed the 150,000 mile service, I was done. He hadn’t yet connected me to anything in the system, yet was already trying to upsell me??? I was new to the area and like 3,000 miles over that “checkpoint number” so how the hell did he know I hadn’t already done that 150,000 mile check at my previous dealership?!? Obvious answer: he didn’t. He was a youngish dude, probably still learning, but completely ignored the fact that young women taking their card to the dealership can still apply reason to a situation. If you are recommending expensive work on a car based solely on the mileage, without even pretending to check whether it’s already been done, you are not a good salesman (and, let’s be honest, most mechanics (or their underlings) are salesmen at heart).

I honestly don’t remember what I said to him, specifically, but I did mention the fact that he was trying to sell me in something that he had no idea whether it had already been done or not.

So... long story long (sorry), I’ve never gone back their. Whenever I’m in a sales-type situation, I give people all the requisite (true) info, and then lay out my personal perspective on said info. And you know what? People tend to appreciate me.

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