Never Judge A Book By Its Coveralls

My father was very successful in business, though you’d never know it by the old coveralls he liked to wear. They were a faded-out baby blue with the belt cut off, sort of what you’d wear if you were retired and driving around the country in an RV with Momma and the dog. They had that special “just came from the Bingo Hall” look about them. They were definitely not his standard Board Room attire.

So, one day he drives into the Mercedes Benz dealership looking for a new car. Mom and Dad walk in, look around at cars and find one they like. They look around for a salesman to help them and none come out to greet the man in the old faded coveralls. Dad asks for some help and finally one well dressed arrogant peckerwood strolls over to ask, “How may I help you, Sir?” “How much is this car,” Dad asks and the snooty salesman looks Dad up and down and replies, “Sir, all Mercedes Benzes are all VERY EXPENSIVE automobiles”. My Dad just nods and says, “Yep, I figured that would be the case, can you go fetch me a real SALESMAN?”

Well, The next guy comes along and dives right into his Mercedes Benz caliber sales presentation like Mom and Dad were the King and Queen! As we sometimes say in Texas, he really “put on the dog!” Meaning, he treated then with the respect and attention that any prospect looking at a $75,000.00 car deserves, regardless of those darn “ol coveralls dad loved. Dad looks over at Mom and she gives him a smile and a nod and Dad hands the salesman his American Express card and says “We’ll take it, and would you fill it up with gas, we’re going next door to James Coney Island to get some hot dogs.”

My Mom still laughs when she tells this story about how Salesman number one’s mouth fell open when he realized how stupid he’d been and just blew a nice commission check! So, remember that you should qualify your prospects based on their wants and needs. And whatever you do, don’t qualify a successful Texas Senator, Attorney, Banker, Rancher and Oilman based on the coveralls he wears.

Because, you can’t judge a book by its coveralls!

Comments

[Mark Figart]

I just read Blink, a recent work of Malcolm Gladwell. He uses this very scenario -- a car salesman making "snap" decisions based on appearance -- to illustrate how such decisions may lead to disastrous results. The successful salesman of the story is the one who, like the second salesman in your own story, treats each prospect as though they are just as likely to buy as the next. Salesman #2 realizes that there is just no way to tell from a first impression whether someone will spend the kind of money you might like them to. I have seen this play out time and time again at Digett.

[Gene Hildabrand]

Great story! It reminds me of a saying we have here in Texas: Big Hat-No Cattle. This is kind of the other side of the same coin. You can never judge wealth by the external trappings. In the book, The Millionaire Next Door, surveys and research conducted by the author demonstrates conclusively that people with real wealth are fairly conservative in their consumerism and live well below their means.

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