This past week, I realized I should meet with my advisor David Butler one more time before graduating. In my head, I simply wanted to be on the same page with him to make sure I had enough credits to graduate. From this conversation, not only did I figure out that I indeed was good to graduate, but I also began to pick Dr. Butler’s brain about his negotiations career. I began to ask him about what made him want to buy and what made him not want to buy from people.
Immediately he began to divulge a story to me about a recent car purchase he had just made. As a matter of fact, he bought the car yesterday.. As a loyal Honda customer for 10 years, Butler started out at the Honda dealership but then quickly changed his mind. The salesman simply did not listen to him. When Butler asked to get a rate on his trade in price, the salesman told him he needed to test drive the other car first. Butler then repeated for a second time and still, the salesmen deflected the request. From this, Buter did not give the salesman a chance and respectively declined the Honda. Butler then made his way over to the jeep dealership. He was greeted by a friendly salesman that had a whole different process. He actually listened to this customer. Dr. Butler test drove a jeep Cherokee and made the comment, “It would be nice if this had mudflaps.” The salesman heard this and had mudflaps delivered and installed free of charge because he simply listened to what Dr. Butler had to say. This idea and concept of listening to your client is huge and, in this case, made the difference between a car sale and not. Dr. Butler made it clear to me during our conversation that a successful salesperson will find a way to prove to their client that he has heard them. In this case, it was the mudflaps, but it can look different.
RMcIlwain
I think this is a great example of a salesman either killing the sale or making it. Sometimes by just being more helpful you will be able to sell. The jeep salesman listened to him and delivered more value.
Jordan, I really like how you connected your conversation with Dr. Butler back to such a practical sales principle. Listening sounds basic, but as your story shows, it’s often the deciding factor between making or losing a sale. You did a great job showing that it’s not just about hearing words — it’s about proving to the customer that you value what they said. Sometimes small actions, like those mudflaps, make a huge impact because they show genuine attentiveness.