When I started in the special finance department, I’d never worked for a dealership before, but I was excited about my opportunity. I started calling the customer leads immediately, and one of my first contacts was a young man in a town about four hours away with limited credit and funds. As an inexperienced but determined salesperson, I went to work on finding him a truck he could afford. After just a few hours on the lot, I found him the best deal imaginable.

I quickly called the customer, told him to get a ride to the dealership and told him what stips to bring with him. I proudly strolled into the finance office and told my manager about selling my first truck. Everyone was so pleased, and I got more excited by the minute waiting for the customer to arrive.

Trying to keep busy and contain my excitement, I decided to put the truck into detail and get it cleaned up for my customer. However I couldn’t get the truck to start so I went looking for help.

The used car manager asked for the stock number from the "red line" to get the keys. After discovering that I didn't know what a stock number or a red line was, he followed me out to the lot to the vehicle I was about to sell. Then, he very patiently explained that the reason the truck wouldn't start was because it didn't have an engine, which was also why it wasn't for sale and therefore didn’t have a red line or stock number.

I was mortified! Of course, when the customer arrived I had to explain all of this to him and he still wanted to buy the truck but I couldn’t sell it to him. Now, after six years experience I still always check to make sure the vehicle has an engine. If I should forget, EVERYONE at the dealership reminds me!