If you’ve ever seen the movie Matilda, you probably remember Mr. Wormwood. One look at his appearance and one could instantly recognize what kind of a job title he has- that of a used car salesman. How can you tell? Well, it is well known that car salespeople are sleazy and slick their hair back. They often wear obnoxious colors with their suits and they are always trying to trick you into buying a car- a car that probably has something wrong with it.
Here is just a little taste of his antics…
For those who are crunched for time, here are some of my favorite quotes:
“See this junker? I paid $100 for her. She’s got 120,000 miles on her, transmission is shot, bumpers are falling off- what do I do with her? I sell her!”
“Of course it’s cheating, nobody ever got rich being honest.”
“The Feds like to test the ingenuity of the American businessman.”
Now, it should go without saying that the lessons learned from Matilda’s Dad are lessons in what not to do. However, it should be noted that while he represents the stigma of a used car salesman, this is rarely the case today. This has to do with the symmetry of information that has emerged thanks to the internet (as noted in Pink’s To Sell is Human). What Mr. Wormwood was doing in the movie was illegal (and a bit of an exaggeration), but the idea is that he has information that the buyer does not, which he can then use to leverage how much he charges for the car. If the buyers knew how much a specific car was actually worth, the negotiating field would be much more even.
It turns out that this is the world we currently live in. Buyers can go online and see how much a car is worth. This is why car salespeople, if they wish to stay in business, should not try to “pull one over” on a potential customer because the customer will simply call them out on it, or better yet, walk away from the dealership entirely. Instead, what we do see is salespeople being more transparent with prospective buyers and it is through that transparency that the idea of an overtly extroverted, manipulative person, who is just trying to get money out of you begins to fall away. Counter to what Mr. Wormwood said about honest people not making money, if you wish to be good in sales you have to be… honest.
BoweryJE22
I liked the addition of a video to your blog post – it made your example even more vivid. I would also definitely agree with your conclusion; I think you supported your ideas about the internet and the downfall of sleazy salesmen well.
Agreed! Transparency has began to make or break more and more sales in this sort of environment due to the internet. It’s been forever since I’ve seen this movie, hahah.. probably one of my first “greasy used car salesman” impressions.