Lesson learned

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. My old truck sold and sold for a price thousands more than the dealers were offering for a trade-in. Tonight, I went out and celebrated the victory. The victory wasn’t that it sold as much as how it sold. It was a celebration of a lesson learned; learned about 40 years ago. It was my first professional job and I was meeting with my boss. He brought up that our sales were running behind budget. I had analyzed that and cited the market conditions that were reasons for it. He had been somewhat reclined in his executive chair, but sat up and leaned toward me. “Dorfman, I don’t hire people to come up with reasons why we’re behind budget. I can get hundreds of people who can do that. I pay people to find ways to hit our numbers.” Message and lesson received. Deciding to sell the truck on my own, as opposed to taking a lowball dealer trade-in price, I had researched the best places to advertise. I came up with three well-rated ones and placed the ads. I anticipated a good response because I had intentionally selected a hot seller when I bought the truck. I gave the ads a week to gain traction but it was tepid, at best. Analysis showed that someone had apparently acquired a number of similar models coming off lease and dumped them on the market. Great timing. But, the lesson is that you don’t sit back and suffer poor outcomes. You do something about it. I started by assessing my “product” and where it had differential advantages. Then, I listed the types of buyers to whom these advantages would have the most appeal. In this case, farmers, boaters, landscapers, trailer campers, etc. Using this template, I compiled an email list and composed a sales email the illustrated how this acquisition was a rare opportunity. The truck sold almost immediately. If you assign outside factors and other people responsibility for your outcomes, you lose. If you take responsibility and control, you win. It’s a lesson that served me well.

And the good news is...

Yes, I’ve been dormant, blogging wise. I’m reminded of an interview of a rock star from the 60s. She said the first album was easy to write. They were living out of a van and subsisting on potato chips. There was plenty of angst to drive the creative process. However, when that album hit big, they were driving Porsches and slurping down caviar. It was tough to write songs of woe and protest. Life is good. I’ve got no complaints. What compels this is more good news. I’m not the least tech-savvy person in the country. I listed a vehicle for sale on the web and received a call this afternoon from a number based in northern Indiana. The caller asked a few questions and, apparently satisfied, told me he was in town for a couple days and would like to look at it. I asked him where he would be coming from so I could give him directions. He described a section of Indianapolis. This puzzled me since I’m in Cincinnati. I informed him of this and it was his turn to be puzzled. As it turns out, he thought that any ads he turned up on the computer at the Indianapolis hotel where he was staying would be for vehicles for sale in Indianapolis. I gladly surrender my crown to him.