As you know, I am a “sales junkie”. I watch people that think they’re good salespeople embarrass the profession. I avoid, ignore and never refer pushy, high-pressure salespeople who are just in it for themselves. (They know who they are and they’re much to smart to read this.) I love watching salespeople that are having a good time. Helping people. Going to the bank.

I am very lucky because my wife likes to shop as much as I like to sell. And……..I get to watch. After work today, my wife told me that we were going to Lowe’s on Lincoln Street in Worcester. We bought two garage doors, a snow blower and a refrigerator. (I want to insert an aside here. I told three local garage door company owners that I wanted to have two garage doors installed in my house. One was a former client. Two had booths at the Home Show. Nobody called. Nobody came. Is it any wonder that these bozos are losing to the “big box” stores?)

OK, back to the story. My wife is a nice lady but a really tough sell. Thinks about it. Doesn’t like to make decisions. Wants to see every model. every option. every color. explore all the possibilities. She’s really a lot of work and it’s fun for me to watch salespeople try to move her through the process.

Roy Kent, Jr. was Elaine’s target today. He showed her most of the refrigerators on the floor in addition to the matching ranges, microwaves and dishwashers (because she’s gonna buy them next week). At some point, while she was looking at dishwashers, she asked Roy for an opinion. As soon as I heard Roy’s response I knew that I was gonna blog it. He said, “Look, you buy what you want. You don’t have to please me.” They were having a conversation. Roy had develop trust. Elaine trusted his expertise and was looking for his opinion.

It was cool. Good job, Roy. See you next week.

Oh, one more thing. There was nobody in the snowblower department, so I asked Roy if he knew anything about snowblowers. He asked me how big my driveway is. I told him. His was the same length. He says, “I have this one.” and points to the $999 model. I asked how long it took him to do his driveway. He told me 30 minutes. I said, “OK.” and bought it.

Thanks again, Roy.