Glad you asked.
If you've been following the back-and-forth conversation between my son and me on Facebook, you know we've been on the hunt for a new car. The '96 Buick Century wagon that belonged to my mother-in-law, that came to us when she died, is, at long last, ready to be donated to the Kidney Car Foundation.
As a matter of fact, we took it off the road almost two weeks ago. And, we started talking about what we'd do next.
1. Have a game plan.
Our initial plan was to look into leasing a new car. We hadn't a clue as to how much this would cost, but we started with the kind of car we wanted: a wagon, and, then narrowed down the make of the car to Subaru and, from there, came up with Outback.
Kind of like SEO. Find your niche topic, and then drill down to some very specific key words.
Last Saturday, we headed out to Kitty Van Bortel's Subaru dealership out in Victor and spent the entire afternoon test-drivng brand new Outbacks, a Tribeka, and one or two Forresters. The weather was perfect for driving. Not a cloud in the sky and 78 degrees. Endless summer reveries. Open the sunroof, ease out onto the highway and let the car show you what it can do.
2. Be flexible. You might have to change your game plan.
We narrowed our selection down to an Outback and sat down with the salesman to determine what we'd be looking at in dollars and cents if we leased a 2011 (loaded) Outback. At slightly over $500.00 a month, we let the sticker shock settle in and then re-grouped. What were we planning on as a monthly payment and how could be bridge the gap?
What about looking at used Outbacks?
Back out onto the lot we went and down the row of cars we traipsed. This time, we narrowed the selection down to year preference ( nothing under 2001), mileage and perhaps "loaded." Could we still get a sun roof? heated seats? The salesman kept track of what we were looking at, writing down the vital statistics on a sheet of paper. We trekked back into the showroom and he ran the numbers for one of the cars we'd looked at.
We still weren't coming in at a figure we were comfortable with. Time to go back home and re-group.
3. Learn the language.
Everything, from politics to sports, marketing to small business to buying a car has its own language. You need to learn it or, when you jump into whatever "world" you're about to visit, take someone with you who speaks that language. What you risk if you ignore this this step, is the ability to make decisions that are in your best interest.
In my case, A's professional experience with everything car-related (nothing like being married to someone well versed in "car speak") was my short-cut to learning the language of how to buy a car. Shortly after deciding to search for a used car, we added the words "one car owner" to our key word search.
4. Stories are powerful.
As potential buyers, we had a story to tell. The salesperson at Kitty Van Bortel's had a story to tell. The two used car dealerships that we visited after spending that Saturday on the Van Bortel car lot had stories to tell.
Interestingly enough, both of those dealerships were "family owned." Each had been started by the father well over 20 years ago and the dads - on the lot, but staying in the background - had turned the day-to-day business of selling cars over to their kids.
5. Customer Service.
Attentive. Focused on providing thoughtful customer service from the moment we stepped on their lots. No pressure tactics. A desire to serve. Did we luck out in an industry that has a reputation for more underhanded practises?
We might have. It's also quite possible that the car industry has changed for the better over the years.
How does all of this translate into your fledgling business? If you've been following my series, you'll recognize that
a flexible game plan, taking the time to wrap your brain around the language of the field that you are about to enter, understanding the psychological power of story-telling, and putting a premium on customer service
are critical foundation blocks to build upon.
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