Leaving the Lion’s Den Happily Ever After

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Do you purchase a car because of its’ curb appeal and sleek exterior or do you purchase based upon what’s underneath the hood?

Because I’ve had my own business since 1999, I’ve been leasing my cars since that time. My accountant advised me 11 years ago that it made more sense from a tax standpoint for business owners to lease rather than purchase.

After taking my wife to lunch on Saturday, I asked her if she’d like to join me in taking a look at the Volkswagen CC at a dealership that’s close to our house. I thought I should start looking because my current lease expires at the end of February and I was quickly approaching the mileage allowance on the existing car. In just 60 more miles, I’d begin paying $.25 per mile for every mile driven until February.

When we pulled up to the front door and took the key out of the ignition, Carolyn didn’t budge from her car seat.  I asked her if she was coming in with me to give me her opinion on the car and to keep me company. That’s my idea of a romantic Saturday afternoon after 25 years of marriage! She responded sheepishly with “no thanks, I’ll just wait here for you”. Even though she’s been married to a salesperson since 1984, salespeople still make her so uncomfortable that she’d rather sit in our car alone than have to deal with their sales tactics and insincerity.

After a few words of encouragement from my best “Mr. Suave impression”, she finally agreed to venture inside the lion’s den. I hadn’t yet finished closing her car door when one of the lions came out licking his lips like we were deer. I don’t know who was more uncomfortable, Carolyn or Kevin, our VW salesperson.

It’s not just Carolyn and Kevin.  Most salespeople are uncomfortable calling or approaching prospects/customers and most people feel uncomfortable dealing with any kind of salespeople.

After Kevin’s over the top but nice hello, he opened the door to invite us into the showroom where right inside the door were 10 other lions hanging around waiting for their next deer: with nothing to do but slurp coffee and consume whole donuts in a single bite. The testosterone-filled room of trained killers was making Carolyn even more uncomfortable.

As Kevin asked us to sit so he could ask us several questions, I think Carolyn felt we were being offered poisoned apples from the Queen like Snow White: she was sure “come here my pretty” was the next line out of Kevin’s mouth.

I told him the truth as I always do. I still had 4 more lease payments to make and my current lease didn’t expire until March 1st.  The only reason that we had stopped by that day was to take a look at a car that had caused me to rubberneck a couple of times within the last 30 days or so. I wanted to get an idea of whether or not the VW CC should be on my list of possible cars.  I already like the exterior. I wanted a chance to see what the inside looked like.

We went out to the lot to take a look at what they had in stock. Because I drive in 3-4 rental cars per month, I wasn’t even interested in test-driving the car. I was pretty confident that a Volkswagen would handle very well.  Upon their insistence (it’s part of their sales process), I agreed to take one out for a quick test-drive. I didn’t feel any different about the car after doing so, but they were happy that I had.

When we returned from the test drive, Kevin asked one of the sales managers to talk with us about our options – lease, purchase, etc.  At this point, Carolyn was trying to hide within the confines of the chair as her scrawny 148-pound husband was being pounced upon simultaneously by multiple lions.  Though they were really very nice, Carolyn already had her mind set into thinking that this and all car purchases should be bad experiences. I was pretty confident that this would be a good experience whether we decided to buy a car or not.

We always get what we expect!

Carolyn was so uncomfortable as I was mulling over the lease versus buy options that she left the showroom again seeking shelter within the car we came in.  Because I genuinely liked the car I had test-driven, the salespeople were good, and the price was great, I was strongly considering getting this action item checked off my “to-do” list while I was here.  After a little positive pressure from the sales guys and a little thought, I decided that this would be a good deal for everyone concerned.

Kevin said that he would process the paperwork, work with the insurance company and registry of motor vehicles, have the car serviced and detailed and have it ready for me to pick up Monday afternoon.  Even with the sale done, I wasn’t completely confident that the car would be ready on Monday and I had to be certain that if I returned my lease on Monday, the new car would be ready so that I could get to a speaking engagement early on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, Kevin sent me a text message saying that the car would be ready to be picked-up between 2 and 4PM.  Carolyn dropped me off and barely slowed-down enough to push me out of her car prior to speeding away from the scary zone. I think she thought that if she actually stopped the car completely, Kevin or one of the other lions would coerce her into buying a car against her will!

Kevin greeted me with a sincere smile, handed me the keys and quickly guided me through the owner’s manual prior to escorting me out to the perfectly detailed car. He continued respectfully calling me “Sir” throughout the entire process as he patiently familiarized me with the car.  It was only at this point did I realize that I could be old enough to be his father.

When he had finished showing the old man how to use all of the electronic gadgets and was still seated in the front passenger seat, he leaned towards me enough to pull something out of his right coat pocket.  It was a white paperback book with red ink lettering on the cover.  The title was, The Greatest Salesman In The World.  Kevin said, “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this book, but I read a chapter each day  in order to……”.

I responded very quickly while he was still in mid-sentence because I was so excited saying, “Kevin, not only have I read this book, but I’ve internalized each of the 10 concepts for success in life into my mind.”  “I’ve given motivational talks around the world based upon the concepts in this exact book. In addition, I’ve read every word ever written by one of the best inspirational, motivational, Christian self-help authors in the world – Og Mandino.” “He has been inspiring me to new levels of success since one of my sales managers gave me that exact book in 1990”.  We both smiled at each other about how much we had in common.

Although I was pretty confident in my decision that purchasing this car was the right thing to do, there was still a little apprehension in my head over the weekend about buying the first car that I looked at from the first salesperson at the first dealer that I visited.  I had also been wondering whether it made sense to buy a new car when I still had 4 hefty lease payments to make on a car that I would be turning in 4 months early.

When Kevin pulled that book out of his pocket, I had received a sign from God that I had absolutely purchased the perfect car at the perfect time at the perfect den from the perfect lion. And, for Carolyn, it showed that no seven dwarves were needed to rescue us (though I’m sure she’d say “this time”)!

Although I never cared to look under the Volkswagen’s hood, I was fortunate to glimpse what was underneath Kevin’s.  He’s put into action the concepts that he has disciplined himself to read on a daily basis.

All people are good underneath the hood.  It’s our job to see what’s beneath the rust, grease, dents, dings and cracks that are visible on the exterior.