𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁

That was my first lesson in sales.

It was the early 2000's, and I was buying my first car. I wanted a 1996 Chevy Blazer(don't ask me why). I had finally found the one I'd been looking for on a used car lot. I asked my Dad if he'd go with me to check it out and close the deal. On the way, he asked me: "are you willing to walk away if you don't get the price you're looking for?" to which I said, "No.", totally confused. Then he explained that Chevy likely made well over 100,000 Blazers just like the one I found, so if that guy doesn't give me the price I wanted, I could undoubtedly find another one.

Twenty-plus years later, it's still guided me in my career. The thing is, my Dad hated salespeople. He felt they'd be fake and say anything to get you to do something. A simple principle has guided my entire career... Would my Dad buy from me? I felt if I conducted myself in a manner that would make an old salty guy like that buy from me, then I'd be doing the profession with honor.

My Dad was one of the toughest SOB I've ever come across in my life. To give you an idea, several years ago, he had a table saw accident resulting in him cutting a few of his fingers off. He picked them up and drove himself to the ER...When I asked him how he was doing, he just said, "Oh, fine. It will save me time cutting my fingernails"...

He was stoic to the end. He passed away in 2020. I figured turning his ashes into a diamond would be a fitting tribute to the tough old guy. Me and the girls miss him, but a big part of me is him, so he's still guiding us.