Yesterday was a pretty good day at work. The record for most sales on one day (not counting shows) is six. Yesterday we had five (although one fell apart and two might not make it through financing. Now, about a week or so we had already had the best January in the last five or six years. Yesterday added to that margin.
One of the units that sold was a 1991 Jayco popup camper. It was in on consignment. It showed up just before the Outdoors Show, so yesterday was the first day it was opened up and actually available for sale. The first couple that saw it bought it. They came back a few hours later and took it home.
Now, there were three or four people that already knew we had it. A few people had emailed about some other used ones we had, and had asked if we had any others similar. I had mentioned the one we had in, but that it wasn't quite ready for sale yet. One guy in particular wanted to be the first to see it.
Now, I encourage people to make appointments, in part to prevent six people all showing up at once and me not being able to help any of them the way they deserve. This particular guy didn't want to do that, and said he'd show up when he could. I warned him.
I also recommend that people put a deposit down on something they think they want. It's refundable. But people don't want to do that, so we get people that show up all ready to buy something half an hour after it leaves with someone else. At least now that it's just me I'm not having the other salesman sell something just before my customer shows up.
On that note, we're going to be hiring. It looks like the plan is to hire two just before the big show. After the show we'll know if either of them have long-term potential. The expectation is to keep one, maybe keep two until I'm back from time off with the new baby.
And then there's a motor home that we have. It's older: 1973, and not in the best shape. It runs, but needs a tuneup. Handyman Special. But hey, it's under $1000, what do you expect? Now, so far, 80% of the people expressing any interest in it have been from Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Louisiana... Nothing local.
A few weeks ago someone drove up from Oklahoma to see it. It didn't start right away, and idled rough, so they got nervous about it and didn't buy it. A lot of driving for nothing.
Yesterday a guy drove 20 hours from Oklahoma to buy it. He liked the interior. He wasn't afraid of the work it would need. It started right up. It ran, although it needed the manual choke to keep it running at idle. Old gas, old fuel filter, carb that needs cleaning. Nothing major. He bought it. Paid cash. Drove it off.
He got almost a mile before complaining that it had no power and couldn't get past 25 mph. We determined the trans was shifting up too soon, and getting to 3rd gear at 20 or 25 and not having any power at that point. Okay, so use it as a manual transmission. Problem addressed. Probably not a huge problem to resolve when you get home. The guy even said he had a mechanic at home, it just needed to get there.
Then we noticed there were no brake lights, turn signals, or rear running lights. Not good, but fixable. Hey, we can't put a whole lot of time into a $1000 motorhome when our shop labor rate is $80 an hour. We warned about all that in advance. But come on, even if you spend another thousand fixing it up it's still a motorhome at $2000.
So while he complained about needing to get going to get home with enough time to rest up before work Monday, we got lights fixed. Everything was good except brake lights. That was just a matter of tracing the wires to the brake switch and fixing whichever wire had come loose. Five minutes, we said.
He gave up, demanded his money back (which we did), and he left. Three minutes later the loose wire had been plugged back in. Sigh.
So, the lesson here? He spent about three hours, maybe four total here. If you're driving 20 hours to buy something, and another 20 hours driving back, is four hours really that bad? Shit, when Amy and I bought our cars I think we sat for two or three each buying those. When we bought Jenna's it was about as much. Whatever. It'll sell to someone who wants it. Everything sells eventually.
Oh, and the '88 Fleetwood Limited 37J (the same year, model, floor plan and color that Amy and I had for a year and a half) that sold in April and had been sitting at the shop waiting for the final payment... it left Thursday.
Okay, that's quite enough for today, I think.
There have been other side benefits to the other salesman quitting. For one thing, he created stress for too many of the people there--including both me and the sales manager (my boss). He was less stressed and grumpy yesterday. I was less stressed and less interrupted, and got more done than usual.
There were five people just yesterday that either called or came in saying that they'd seen us at the Outdoors Show over the weekend. Shows are sort of odd things. Some dealers go to shows expecting to sell at the show. They get frustrated if they don't.
Apparently the big RV show in Rosemont (starting Feb 23rd) is one case where people do buy at the show. For one thing, prices are reduced too low.
But most other shows don't necessarily generate a lot of at-the-show sales. The point to most of the shows isn't about having a big sale and selling next to your competitor. It's advertising. It's showing what you have and what you are. If it's done right, people come to the store to follow up on what they saw at the show.
Selling at a show is about high-pressure, buy-it-now sales. Advertising at the show is about getting people excited about coming to the store to see the rest of what you have so they can find the unit that's perfect for them.
Now, I'm likely to get paid better for selling at the store than at a show. The customer benefits from having more time to make a decision, more time to compare units, less pressure, and gets a better experience out of the whole thing. Everybody wins.
The attitude towards shows is changing at the dealership. They used to see shows as just about selling. They're more and more seeing it as about advertising. I like that direction, and it looks like it's working.
Today's quote comes from an email group.
Natives who beat drums to drive off evil spirits are objects of scorn
to smart Americans who blow horns to break up traffic jams.
~ Mary Ellen Kelly
The Outdoors show is moving along. Today's the last day. Yesterday was a long day, but not a bad one. Lots of people to talk to for the first half or so, but then it got pretty dead for the evening.
Yesterday's 13 or so inches of snow was fun...well, not really. But it was pretty.
And the other salesman quit yesterday, which is mostly a good thing. As my boss is fond of saying, "...and we'll just leave it at that." His version of "if you know what I mean, *wink*."
Lots and lots to do, both at home and at work.
So there's a show starting today. The Chicagoland Outdoors Show. It's part boat show, part RV show, and part... you know, outdoorsy stuff. Hunting, fishing, camping, hiking... all that good stuff.
So I'll be there for a fair chunk of it. The dealership has a smallish space there, with sort of a sampling of our stock. I'll be curious to see how it goes. Oh, I could rant plenty, but I'm keeping less details about work on the blog these days. 'Sides, this here space oughta be more about me an' my life than where I'm workin' at, eh? (No, not quite sure where that came from. I'm still early into my coffee this morning.)
But today I'm off and home. Jareth and I have a cooking class this morning. Last week we made hot chocolate mix from scratch. That and some kind of marshmallow-coated popcorn stuff. Mind you, Jareth had no interest in drinking the hot chocolate, while other kids chugged it all down. No, my little kid finds the alternate use for it--dipping said marshmallow-coated popcorn into.
He was also the best-behaved kid there. I was the only dad present. Apparently for the history of that particular class there has always been one, and only one, father enrolled. Otherwise its an odd assortment of housewives. I can get along with them just fine, but I don't know that I'd fit in their Pampered Chef Party lives.
Eventually the jar of marshmallow fluff came out. One kid recognized it immediately, to which the mother said, "Oh, yes, we know what that is, don't we?" She seemed surprised that I didn't have that one stocked in the kitchen at home.
I mentioned Jareth was the well behaved one, right? Ah, yes, good. Great big bag of pre-packaged pre-popped popcorn comes out as an ingredient. It hadn't actually touched the table before one kid stuck a hand in and pulled out as big a fistful as he could get. That entire fistfull all got stuffed into his mouth at once. Jareth, on the other hand, never reached into anything without permission. When a mom set some popcorn on the table in front of him he said thank you. He then proceeded to eat it one piece at a time. Oh, he was also the cleanest one. No marshmallow fluff in that boy's hair...
So we'll see how today goes. Then I'll be home spending time with Amy, since there will be precious little of that until next week. Friday I'll be home at the regular time. Saturday morning we have another ultrasound. Other than that, I'll be away until 11 or midnight or so each night. That might mean not a lot of blogging until afterwards. You never know.
No real update about me this moring. I did get this in an email, which I've forwarded on to a couple of people, and figured I'd share:
IF Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their famous sketch, "Who's on First?" might have turned out something like this:COSTELLO CALLS ABBOTT TO BUY A COMPUTER
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking
about buying a computerABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
AB! BOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No On the computer! I need something I can use to write
proposals track expenses and run my business. What do you have?ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm
sitting at my computer and I want to typ! e a proposal. What do I need?ABBOTT: Word.
COSTE LLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some
straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping?
You have anything I can track my money with?ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
A FEW DAYS LATER:ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START." . . .
What a wierd January. The store has already had the best January in five years. Monday we start setting up for an outdoors show. 35,000 sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts over five days. Some of those days are going to be very long days. It'll mean getting home after Jareth's in bed for a few of the days.
But, these shows are supposed to be good for creating sales and store traffic. I'm not sure I saw that at the other two shows we've been at since I started, but we'll see. The big show isn't until later in February. We'll see about that one, too.
For the moment, store traffic has slowed down, so more time has been claimed by show prep. On one hand, there are customer follow-up things I should be doing (especially) during these slow times. On the other hand, if I'm going to spend half of next week not at the store, I think I'm better off just waiting.
So many things... but time to go to work. Maybe a proper blog post in the next day or two.
Not even a week into the new year and problems. Not insurmountable ones, but here I am at ten to midnight waiting for bedding to finish in the dryer so I can make the bed and we can crash. It's been a long day of frenzied bagging up of food and kitchen crap and then the Bug Bomb Event.
Then there was shopping while the clouds settled and lunch out during the ventillation. And there was considerable cleaning afterwards. Not fanatical Nazi cleaning (Not Amy's Mom cleaning...), but quite a bit of it nonetheless.
Traffic is up at the store, which is good. The new year seems to be already starting with some good momentum.
Another difference I've noticed between working for big corporations and smaller companies: You can blog about a co-worker at a place like Sara Lee and that person can still remain anonymous. But at a dozen or so employee business... No, in most cases it would be a little too obvious who I was talking about.
So far fewer posts about work now than there have been in the past. Heh, maybe that's a good thing. Dunno. I'm tired, now's not the time to get philosophical.
Ten minutes later and the dryer is still going. But that's enough for now. There were some things I wanted to post, but I can't recall them just now. Later...