Dan here... I know, usually my fantasy buddies are here but I met a muse today that prompted, no....demanded I write something of my own... here it goes...

The car business has evolved from a mom and pop run service station to the mega-dealers of today. Funny that the service station is a near non-existent entity in today's world. I am of the age that remembers pulling up to the pumps in the steel bodied beasts of "yester year" with my legs sticking to the vinyl and the occasional wift of breeze through the roll-down windows on a summer afternoon, none the less the blustery days of winter, in the south, when 32 degrees felt like frost bite, yet the car's radiator was trying to boil the very skin from your shins. In these days two to four men would rush out in weather appropriate attire lifting the hood, filling up the tank, checking the tire pressure and of course.... pitching the marvels of the latest quart of goo, rubber blades, light bulbs or air freshener.

These were the men first approached to open "dealerships" in the young age of one of the greatest industries that helped launch this nation into the international behemoth it became. People were learning that freedom was equal to the fuel in the tank rather than one's exertion with horse, stride or that ever so limiting bicycle. There was a day in each of your family's pedigree when they encountered their first salesman. Not the harrasing door to door salesmen that pitched everything from vacume cleaners, bibles and housewares. And let's not forget to mention the catalog peddlers that introduced the closing era of the valiant, yet noble men that looked for the occasional yes amongst the myriad of nos. I really refer to that epitome of angst and revile you each have...the car salesman.

We were the men that knew going in how much easier it would be to convince you of a buck and a half pair of shoes and their sheer importance on that next proposal, interview or sunday morning meeting. We realized the ease at convincing your wives at home the need for the newest appliance to make you a better meal, provide a cleaner household none the less a few extra hours of bon-bons in the afternoon. No one knew better than we, how difficult it would be to overwhelm your sense of good judgment in buying a previously owned means of transportation rather than the marked up new model three to four times your income. We knew, yet we came anyway.

To understand us one really needs to catch a glimpse of the egos involved, the humiliation we distributed to those unworthy and quite honestly, just how genuinely honest the vast majority of us were. Every field of endeavor and career has their bad apples, ours was one that seemed to evolve differently than all others. If you truly question this, why is it even today you lie about how much you spent for your home and how little you spent for your car?

The Salesman

Many sales pros will be able to explain the 80\20 rule. Suffice it to say that for every car salesman you met only two out of every ten actually were REALLY any good at it. The quickest way to measure this is find out how long they actually tried it. I remember the numerous people over the years that claimed to have been once a car salesman. Most only tried a mere few months, occasionally you would find a few that lasted a few years. Rarely, did you meet a closer.

We were the guys that stumbled into a field of work that cared little for the sheepskin. We were the guys who knew how to sell, but truly without lying.