Ferrari without fear

My husband and I, on a recent road trip, drove past a Ferrari show room. It was stunning, gleaming white with not a spec of dirt or dust and an array of cars with starting price tags worth more than many houses.

I knew the flashy shiny things would be of interest to my other half so I encouraged my husband to pull over. At first, never having looked in a car room like this, we were unsure if in our “road trip gear” of jeans and t-shirts we’d even be allowed in the showroom.

To our surprise, the doors were open and we were welcomed in by a smiling, pleasant receptionist. We made it clear that we were simply browsing and were told to go right ahead.

During the 20 or so minutes we were in the showroom we were treated stunningly, asked if we would like assistance one more time, this time by a really nice salesperson, and then left to our browsing in peace and quiet, never made to feel as though we were unwanted. All this despite the fact that it was quite clear that we were pretty unlikely to lay down a half a million on a car that weekend.

Contrast that with the $12,000 eight ball table I once looked at (and was very interested in). When I asked the price I was told, “It’s veeeerrry expensive”, clearly indicating their predisposition to thinking that it was out of my price range.

After that response let me tell you I was far more likely to buy a Ferrari than I was their $12,000 table!

Their assumption had cost them a sale (a “veeeerrry expensive” one according to their own definition!)

Now it cost nothing but a few moments of time for the Ferrari team to treat us as though we were worthy of their respect, no pre-judgment, no potential for a lost sale or bad-will going forward.

Kirsty Dunphey is the youngest ever Australian Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year, author of two books (her latest release is Retired at 27, If I Can do it Anyone Can) and a passionate entrepreneur who started her first business at age 15 and opened her own real estate agency at 21. Now Kirsty does lots of fun things which you can read about here. Her favourite current projects are Elephant Property, a boutique property management agency, Baby Teresa, a baby clothing line that donates an outfit to a baby in need for each one they sell andReallySold, which helps real estate agents stop writing boring, uninteresting ads.