The Negotiation

“Alright, so I’m glad you selected a car,” a salesman, Dale, says, sitting at his desk. Across from him sits Mrs. Wilson. “Have you decided whether you wanted to trade in the car you drove in today?”

“Um, yeah sure!” she replies.

“Great! Let me run some numbers real quick,” Dale says. On his computer, he selects his customer’s car, creates a deal, and clicks send.

The second his finger clicks the mouse to send the deal, Mrs. Wilson says, “Although, maybe I shouldn’t get rid of it…” Dale’s heart drops a little bit and knowing the deal is already in front of the appraiser.

The appraiser gets a notification of the deal on his computer. He calls another employee in, asking him to do a walk around on the customer’s car.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Miller is talking herself back and forth about trading in the car. Dale is catching short phrases like “it’s old,” “it’s got all these memories,” “it needs new tires,” and “that’s the best part.”

“I’m really excited about the new car, though!” Mrs. Miller reminds him. He smiles nervously.

The appraiser is reviewing records for Mrs. Miller’s car. “Let’s see, we sold five of these in the last 90 days. We’re averaging about $1600 each. The local market has a few, but they’ve been out there a while. Oh, they’re all priced too high; we can easily beat those.

“Let’s see what KBB has to say, in case the customer checked that already.” While he’s checking the Kelley Blue Book value, the other employee returns.

“Hey, it’s a real nice car. All it needs is four tires.”

“Great, thanks!” the appraiser says as the employee leaves. He adds that information into the appraisal, “Line item… tires… $600… and we’re good to go!”

The appraiser sends the appraisal back over to Dale, who’s still hearing Mrs. Wilson’s conflict. “Gosh, there’s just so many memories. We brought all the kids home from the hospital in that car! Oh, gosh.” Dale sees the offer of $4000 appear on the screen. Hearing all of Mrs. Wilson’s objections, he returns it as a bump request.

The appraiser immediately sees the bump request. “Hmm, they want more…” He checks Mrs. Wilson’s customer history, seeing 19 transactions and over $2500 profit. “Ok, they are a good customer.” He sends over a new offer.

“Maybe I should just hang onto it,” Mrs. Wilson laments. Dale responds, agreeing, and sees the new offer. “But, boy I’m tired of the maintenance.”

“OK,” he says, writing the offer down on a piece of paper. “Here’s what we can give you for your old car.” He slides the paper to her.

She stares at it for a second until the number registers. “Oh!” she says, “Okay! Sold.” She laughs. Happy with the sale, they shake hands and finalize the deal.

For more information about Used Vehicle Management, call 888.879.7989.