Here comes a guy on the lot.
This is a little unusual. I see his car, but he did not drive onto our property. He is parked out on the street, which seems awkward. The boulevard is a busy road, and cars zoom past within inches of his vehicle.
I am up on the sidewalk with Steve and Rob. They do not see him, yet. I make a quick first step. Steve and Rob immediately take notice and quietly watch as I head out across the black top.
The customer is far enough way so that I can not quite make out his face. He is a skinny white male and looks to have a thin white beard, though I will not be sure until I get closer. He is in blue jeans, white tennis shoes, a long sleeve shirt and a baseball cap.
As I walk toward him, I see something else unusual. He is looking at the cars, but not long enough to amount to anything. Moving fast across the the lot, he is almost bouncing from one car to the next like a pinball.
I think maybe he sees me, now. To my surprise, he bolts in the opposite direction, rapidly walking away from me. Perhaps I was walking too fast myself, my gait too aggressive. So I slow down and poke along more casually toward him. This customer continues to move away from me, though, and will not let me get close.
I stop and stand on the asphalt for a few moments, watching him. This is silly, I think to myself. If he is that apprehensive to talk to me, then I have a very low probability of making a sale. It is better for me just to go back to the sidewalk and wait for him to come to us, though doing so will cost me the lead. By the rules of the game at the dealership, it will be whatever salesman he speaks to when he walks up who will have the chance to make the sale and earn a commission.
But I turn around and walk back.
"What happened?" Rob asks.
"I can't get close to the guy. He's almost running from me." I point out to the boulevard. "Look, he didn't even bring his car on the lot. He's parked in the street."
"Ah, he's one of those," Steve smiles.
Steve looks at Rob, "You wanna get him?"
Rob smiles, too. "Yeah, let's get him."
They both head toward the customer. The way they walk makes me laugh. They have their hands in their pockets and bounce with exaggerated wide strides, exactly like a con man might approach a mark.
The man in the baseball cap sees them and again heads away, the same as he did with me.
Steve and Rob split up, flanking around the customer. "Excuse me, sir!" Steve says loudly.
The man does not respond, but to my amused bewilderment, he visibly freaks out and begins walking fast back toward his car.
Rob has the angle to cut him off, though.
"Sir! Sir, can I have a word with you?" Rob says as loudly as Steve.
The man dodges behind one of our used cars, but Rob continues to get closer and actually ducks behind a vehicle so that the man can not see him.
When Rob does this, the man breaks into a jog back to his vehicle, gets in and is gone.
Rob and Steve come back up to the sidewalk, laughing. I have to laugh with them.
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