It’s been a while since I have had the time to write. Work is flat out and I don’t think people understand how hard we are all working with limited resources. We don’t have enough staff numbers to open seven days a week, but as we have so much work myself and my sales colleague have been using the weekend time to deliver vehicles. The abuse we received yesterday from the general public was unbelievable. I won’t go into the specifics but let me be very clear. We are all working flat out, it’s not unusual for us to be fielding phone calls and answering emails late into the night. I can’t remember the last time I had a proper day off and I am not alone in that statement. Please be patient, as of next we should be back to some sort of semblance of normality. But for now we are just head down, bottom up; working as hard as we can to deliver the service you all require.

Today is a special day, today I have a round of golf booked with a dear friend I have not seen since all this lockdown stuff began. I have slipped and checked and answered a few emails but now my phone is going in the draw until tomorrow and once I have finished this little piece my laptop will be following it. Today is about friends, golf and maybe a beer after. I am not expecting either of us to be setting course records. Last time out I shot a very embarrassing ninety-nine. But I know we will have fun, the slightly overcast weather won’t dampen our spirits. Today will be a good day.

I have a wonderful story of a motorhome sale to share with you, for reasons that will become clear later I can’t write the story quite yet; so I thought I might tell the tale of my greatest sale and possible the greatest customer. I have changed a good deal of the information in this story to protect the identity of said customer, but the crux of it is all true.
Back in the day I was working for a large dealership selling brand specific vehicles. As a good salesman I would work my database and speak to customers I felt could benefit from an upgrade. I had a lovely chap we will call Dave that had a small car that he used for his daily commute. He was desperate to change and we would talk, email or text regularly about his car and how it was time for a change. Dave became a bit of a mate, we would chat about all sorts of stuff.
He knew he had to change his car; it was rotten. The heater had long since given up, it was using water and fuel in equal quantities. The drives side window had fallen out of its fixing and was now stuck open about two inches. In short it was old and needed to go.
Dave was keen to upgrade, just by a few years to get something that worked. But every time I found him something, his wife would find something else to spend the money on. It was always amazing things to, foreign holidays, a new kitchen once it was a swimming pool.  I was never quite sure if this was just something he said to keep me from pestering him or what was genuinely happening. But like I say it didn’t matter because he was like a mate now, so we just chatted, laughed and moved on.
One day we had taken in a lovely little manual car that was right up Dave’s street. I took a few pictures and emailed him the information. Also taking the liberty of sending him some pictures of a sporty little number we had for a bit of fun. The sporty beast was in a completely different price bracket but I thought it would be a talking point.
Anyway; with about an hour Dave is on the phone asking why I had sent him the pictures of the sports car. Turns out this just happened to be his dream car and could he come down to take a look. I was really thinking he just wanted to have a look, maybe a drive to get it out of his system. Then we could talk about the little cheapy I had for him.
Quite the opposite. Once Dave and seen it and driven it he was more smitten than ever. A long chat with our business manager and with a bit of finance Dave could afford his dream; the car was his.
We had a little bit to do on the car to get it ready for him so we agreed he would collect it in a few days.
The next morning Dave is on the phone, saying his wife has gone mad at the idea of such a car. Midlife crisis and divorce had been banded around, but anyway not to worry he was going to have the car whatever. I didn’t think this was his smartest move and mentioned the little car was still with us but that didn’t matter, he was having it and that was that.
Roll on the next day and I have the mother in law in the office shouting and going that I can’t sell him such a car. Her daughter is going to leave him if he does something so selfish and stupid. She takes a look at the prospective new car, rants some more so I show her the little runner I had originally tried to sell him. Much happier with this option she starts trying to negotiate on the car on his behalf. Not wanting to get into this conversation I tell her I will do the same deal on this car as he got on the racer. The same deal incidentally was what was on the window, but she seemed happy and was off home to tell the daughter what was happening. I called Dave and he told me not to worry, the dream car was coming home with him and that was that.
It goes quite for a couple of days, then out of know where I get a call from Dave; “do I still have the little cheapy?” Without batting an eyelid and more out of fun than anything else I say “we do, do you want to buy both?” Yes he does and this is why Dave became the best customer ever. The plan was he would use the cheapy for his commute and the sporty number would live in his mate’s garage for weekend fun. This guy has a pretty expensive motorcar hiding in his mate’s garage, on a good bit of funding that his wife knows nothing about!
The day comes to collect; Dave drives down first thing in the morning in his old banger, swops to his new runner and tells me he will be back in the afternoon with his mate to pick up the other. The afternoon comes round and like a Cheshire cat Dave appears with his mate to pick up his new toy. As I watch him drive away I turn to his mate and ask if he thinks he will get away with it? “Oh definitely” he says, “she never found out about the motorbike!”