Buy Your Dream Car
EVERY kid has a dream. Mine was to own a
Porsche 911 one day. Richie (my good friend in high school)
and I spent countless hours in Algebra drawing 911s in our
notebooks. Richies drawing were always much better than mine.
And that is not all he was better at.
About thirty years later Richie was a seasoned motoring
journalist who would get called up by all the big car
companies. He would get invited to test drive the latest
models in exotic locations. He spent his days traveling to
places like Monte Carlo, California and the Australian outback
to test drive Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches, Bentleys and
other more mainstream cars. Occasionally, over a beer I would
get to hear from him what was wrong with the latest Aston
Martin.
Meanwhile I had spent those thirty years making a living the
more traditional way. Not only were all those cars a distant
fantasy, I knew that the cost of one of the wheels on a car
like that was more than what I had paid for any of my cars.
I quietly made a wow to one day experience being behind the
wheel of my dream car. The dream came true when I visited a
good friend in Germany and he knew how I loved Porsches. So he
took me to Avis and we drove off in a 911, down the autobahn
and around the Rhine.
This was such an experience I decided to write about it so I
could share that with Richie. I sent him the link to the blog,
but did not even get a courtesy response saying he was happy to
hear from me.
Little did I realise, the dream car itch had been far from
scratched. In fact, I had only aggravated the itch. So I
decided a couple of years later to dabble in nice cars that
had been depreciated enough for me to afford them but not so
much that they would be a burden. I started cautiously. First
a used Jag. Richie did not even let out a healthy yawn when he
heard about that car. Then it was a pretty powerful Lexus
sports car. That got a small nod from Richie although I was not
sure if he was actually dozing off or approving of the
purchase.
The thing with Richie was he could abuse those dream cars as
much as he liked and then return it to the dealer and they
would kiss his hand as he handed over the keys. I, on the
other hand, had to kiss the dealers hand to get it at a price
that did not require refinancing the humble home.
After a few years of owning a couple awesome vehicles I
decided it was time to get more than a yawn or a nod from
Richie. It was time for the dream car. The benchmark.
After applying the steps in this manual I got myself a
$211,000 Porsche 911. Of course I did not pay anything close to
that. I got it for less than one-third that price in the
prestige pre-owned car market. The car was almost as good as
new, with very low mileage. I was happy as Larry, but little
did I realize that the best was yet to come.
Here is what happened.
I have been running my own software business for the past 10
years and we have done ok for a small outfit. We never did any
marketing and all the work we got was the result of word of
mouth. We learned that by doing good work, you get more good
work to do from existing clients and their network as word of
mouth spreads.
This is where it gets interesting. After buying the Porsche, I
decided to keep it quiet. I did not want clients to think I was
charging too much and also wanted to avoid all the head shakes
and murmurs of mid-life crisis. Unfortunately the only way
to keep a purchase like this quiet is by keeping it hidden in
the garage and never letting it out. That was not going to
happen given I found myself spending more time in the car than
at home.
My response to the mid-life crisis comments was prepared. I
told people it was my third mid-life crisis and by far it was
the best one. My wifes response was better - she would tell
people that at least I still had the same wife.
My neighbor commented on how I appeared to have a smile on my
face every time I got home. I agreed and suggested that may be
everyone should buy a Porsche to make the world a happier place.
He laughed out loud and suggested Porsche run an advertising
campaign with the slogan buy a Porsche and create world peace!
This little purchase was resulting in numerous conversations.
Old clients started sending me text messages telling me they
heard about the car. They asked me if business was really that
good in such a crappy economy. They suggested we catch up for
a coffee. They wanted to know what I was up to. I was glad to
catch up.
Before I knew it I found myself in front of a very senior
executive in a global 100 company pitching for business. Two
days later we had a six figure contract signed. Within months,
one conversation led to another and the Porsche was
contributing to a million dollar revenue stream!
This was my first real lesson in marketing. Create some
intrigue and get people talking in a manner that will result
in inquiries. Convert those inquiries and you have a marketing
campaign that works.
Had I known this dream car purchase would have generated such
a return, I might have bought it 10 years ago. Better late
than never. The best thing about the whole experience is that
the car did not cost any more than what a lot of people spend
on a far less impressive car, like a brand new basic German
family sedan. I got the car at the price dealers pay for a car
like this when someone trades it in. Whats more there were no
hassles or haggling with the dealer. It was unbelievable easy
actually.
Because I have a business, the car is actually a business
expense. And it is an expense that has actually contributed to
business revenue. Incredible. It turned out to be the best
silliest business decision I have ever made! |
