How to Sell Junk

I recall a scene from the movie, "Matilda." The father, Danny Devito's character, is trying to teach his son the "family business" of selling used cars. He points out to his son a "clunker" he bought for $100. He readily admits that the transmission is shot, the front bumper is detached, and the odomer reads 120,000. No problem. He "super super glue"s the front bumper on, rolls back the odometer, and I believe the imlication is that he somehow gets the car to run without replacing the transmission. Matilda, the daughter, interupts the father-son moment and says, "People need good cars. Why can't you sell good cars, Daddy?"

I would answer the question differently than Danny Devito's character does. I would say to Matilda, "Sure, people need good cars, but not everyone can afford good cars." There is nothing wrong with selling junk. As a matter of fact, you are doing a service to people with limited budgets when you are willing to sell products of less than perfect quality. The problem isn't that Danny Devito's character was selling a bad car; the problem is that he was masquerading it as a good car. He was misrepresenting what he was selling; that is what made him a bad businessman, not simply that he was selling it.

I recently heard another story about a printer salesman that went on a sales call with his sales manager. The client had a very low budget to work with and the salesperson knew this. During the interview, the client asked the salesperson about the quality of the pritner that he was considering. To his sales manager's horror, the salesman said, "It's a piece of crap." A slight pause and then, "But it's the best piece of crap that will fit your budget." The client turned to the sales manager and said, "See, that's why I like this guy. He's honest." The client bought a batch of printers.

What's the lesson for salespeople? The key to selling junk is selling it to people who can afford nothing else. Most people understand that they will get what they pay for. One man's trash is another man's treasure. It isn't junk to them. It fulfills their needs. Most importantly, though, always be honest about what your product or service can do. If it can't do something that your client wants it to do, perhaps you are selling to the wrong customer. In short, sell bad cars to people with bad car budgets and good cars to people with good car budgets; but never say that a car is good when really it is bad.

The customer who bought the car from Danny Devito's character was not happy. And, as it turns out, she was a beefed-up Olympian with quite the temper. Remember, your customers don't go away after the sale. No matter what you are selling, they can always come back to complain. Make sure you are a straight-shooter.