Went for high mileage badge....
 

I drove the 40+ miles to go see the "local" MB dealer for a sig on my sheet. I went in and politely asked for 5 minutes of someone's time. The salesman said sure and took the form and looked at it for about 10 minutes. Finally, I said "you probably have never seen one of these before". He concurred and said lets have a look. My car was right outside and he took a very brief look at it and asked what the mileage was. (he never looked inside)

He quickly signed the paper and wished me a congratulations and I was on my way.

I get more looks and questions on the street. I figured someone that worked there would have been at least half interested. I refrained from any farther conversation because of his lack of interest.

In his defense I must say that as a salesman, I have a great deal more interest in things that are likely to result in a sale and the subsequent commission from said sale. Just because he sells Mercedes, doesn't neccessarily mean he is as enthusiastic about the product as we are.

So, how many miles you got on that SD anyhow? What's the conversion factor from miles to KM? I've got close to 300K on my 123 and will be trying to get that mileage badge too.

A good salesman looks upon EVERYONE he encounters as a potential client or reference and conducts themselves accordingly.

It is typically the parts guys and some of the techs who take more interest, particularly in the older Diesels. A fair number of techs and parts guys, at least in the Atlanta area, drive W123s and they're always chatting me up on my occasional stops in at the dealer.

I'm sorry, did someone say he was a GOOD salesman?

You are right, Randy. That's always been my attitude, and I have typically been way ahead of the guys with whom I've worked in terms of sales. I learned that lesson a long time ago. People are not always what they seem from first glance.

You probably do all right in the singles bars, too...:D:D:D

Yeah. I drove up to the dealer and took the form to the front desk and the lady just signed it and gave me her card and wished my a wonderful day. She didn't even know what it was and probably didn't care either. Maybe that means I just hit the 500k mark:idea3:!!

100% true.

I sold a tractor once, to a couple of farmers who looked like they didn't have two pennies to rub together. They stopped by and asked two questions: how much, and could they test it out in the parking lot. I gave them a quote and handed them the key(my office had a view of the parking lot). The drove a couple of figure eights and tried the pto and lift mechanism. They came back inside and thanked me for my time and said they would think about it.

Later on that day, the same rusty Chevrolet ruck pulled up towing a huge equipment trailer. The old fellow came in and asked if it was still for sale. I replied that yes it was, he then pulled a wad of bills out and paid me in cash without asking for one penny of a reduction in price. He walked out and loaded it up and was gone. Goes to show, you can't tell who your next sale sale will come from. I treat everyone alike, and some of the biggest pain in the rear people I have ever dealt with are the yuppies who think I'm desperate to sell and/or need the money.

Though there are exceptions to every rule:

I sold a military Jeep once, and this fellow kept coming by and indignantly kept offering 25% of my asking price. He kept making comments that it was the end of the month and surely I needed to make a sale. At that point, I gave him a taste of his own medicine and told him that the price was now $5000, not $4000. I sold it for the full $4000 a few days later, and the same fellow came by and demaned to know what happened to the Jeep he was going to buy. I was ready, I had copied one of those "buy a Jeep for $50.00" ads out of Popular Mechanics and handed it to him and suggested that these people probably had something in his price range.:rolleyes:

Good story! Yep, in sales, you really can't tell a book by it's cover. I've known several extremely wealthy individuals who looked like common laborers. As my dad used to say, "The reason rich people are rich is because they don't spend much of their money."

I was really excited when I went to get the offical document signed, and hoped they didin't give me a hard time because I don't do business there. Lady luck was with me, the receptionist signed on the dotted line....

Not lady luck at all...it was that black leather whip you had in your back pocket! :whip:

That and the studded stilettoes...

Here are the award levels.

250,000 kilometers (155,000 miles)
500,000 kilometers (312,000 miles)
750,000 kilometers (466,000 miles)
1,000,000 kilometers (625,000 miles)
1,000,000 miles

I have a little over 312,000 on the SD.

So does this mean your gonna put it up on blocks and spin the wheels so you can get the higher badge award?

Yeah! I can get the 250k now and the 500k before the end of the year. Yeeehaaa!