Into the Fire...

Here's the thing,

I'm a salesman who is also an automotive enthusiast. So enthusiastic, in fact, that I've recently decided to leave my cushy inside sales position for the wild world of car sales. It's a move that, I admit, makes me look a bit crazy. However, it's the right one for me for a couple reasons.


First off, I'm in sales already. I have been for the past year or so. As anyone can tell you, it's a messy business, doesn't matter what you're selling. For me, for the sake of professionalism, let's just say I sell "insurance". So why not use the opportunity to combine my passion of cars with my ongoing career field? I make sales, I work the prices, sometimes I even hold onto pricing that I could pass onto the customer. I don't always feel good about it, but it's part of the job. In retail, businesses do the same thing. People just get upset when salespeople do it because you can't get to the checkout in PetSmart and haggle over the price of cat cans.

Secondly, I just love cars. I've never, in the whole year that I've worked my current job, gotten fired up about the product I'm selling. It's probably because it's one of those things that could be considered a necessary evil. People hate talking about it. Even my prospects, who have the opportunity to make or save money with what I offer aren't excited to talk about it. Instead, cars make people happy. Even the people who see a car as simply a tool or means of transportation, even those people enjoy buying cars. Anyone who says they don't is a liar. I get it, everyone hate's spending money. But when you first open the door, smell that new car smell, and turn the key for the first time after signing the paperwork, it's an experience. To me, it's always felt like sliding into a bath that is just the right temperature. It's the home you never knew you missed.

I want to be a part of that for people.

So that brings us to the obvious. The hours can suck, and sometimes you have to make deals you're not comfortable with. Of course, that doesn't even begin to touch the 100's of different types of difficult buyers that are out there. But to me, that doesn't matter. I grew up in a car-loving family. I can't wait for the first time I get to sell someone a Christmas present for their daughter with the big red bow, or a graduation gift for themselves and put on the Alma-Matter tag bracket around the plates. To me, that's what it's all about. And I'll take that over a headset and a salary any day.

And that, that's the thing.

- Shawn