CLAY CURTIS-PART4! Color change a perfect Enzo? Talking people out of deals?

Clay Curtis - Part 4

Mon, 2/22 5:35PM • 22:08

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

cars, deal, people, jeff, listening, events, black, client, sell, love, person, wife, white, business, customer, pebble beach, life, lose, podcast, adamant

SPEAKERS

Jeff Sterns

Jeff Sterns  00:00

Jeff Sterns connected through cars play Curtis Part Four, we talk about events like Pebble Beach, we talk about clay, talking a customer out of painting, one of three ns O's ever produced white and our guidance to customers with things like that. And why? I'm usually right. Please subscribe, leave a comment below. See at the end, I hope you enjoy.

00:25

I came into possession of Ferrari Enzo. Okay, so they made only 399 of those Ferrari benzos out of all of them. They were all red except for seven yellows three blacks. For all you fact checkers out there. I may be off by a car to Jeff was right. We'll be out here.

Jeff Sterns  00:47

That's all. Good luck.

00:50

Jeff Sterns connected through Guys, if they're big wigs. We'll have him on the show. And yes, we'll talk about cars and everything else. Here he is now, Jeff Sterns.

01:09

We used to go out to Pebble Beach all the time for the concourse show, right? As you go out there every year, you know, there's a there's a different trend and different manufacturing that they highlight at Pebble Beach, right? So this year was Ferrari. And I had, we were doing a drive just down the pch. The Pacific Coast Highway for all of you and saw some lady that was doing a photo shoot with all of her cars. And they were all white and a Lamborghini Murcielago you know, a 430 scooty air like all the hottest stuff, white and she was doing like a photo shoot over the thing. So I told my buddy who is at a stop, I want to meet this person. There's got to be something going on. Right? So I movie we meet we exchanged cell phones, you know, I gave her platitudes about how much I love her collection of white cars. Like that's her thing. That's what she's known for. Right? A year later, I came into possession of Ferrari Enzo. Okay, so they made only 399 of those Ferrari benzos out of all of them. They were all red except for seven yellows, three blacks. For all you fact checkers out there. I may be off by a car too. But for the most part, you get the thing. So I had a black Enzo she wanted the end. So we started we she called we're in negotiations, and she says hey, how much do you think it's gonna cost me to paint the black and white? Now's like, Mrs. x if you if you hate this car from factory, and it's one of only three black enzymes that were ever made from factory, you'll lose more than 50% of the value of the car will be unsellable and you will probably be like ridiculed for life. You know, like didn't get into that. And she's like, well, all my stuff is white. She's very adamant about all my stuff is white, I must have white cars. So one of the things I noticed when she was doing her photo shoot is that every single one of her cars has a vanity plate. She names all of her cars. So I wasn't going to sell the car if she was going to pay this a black. I mean paint it white from black just I'm not doing so we're in negotiations. She's adamant about it. She's adamant. So my clothes was this. For every flock of sheep you like you know, you'd like these vanity plates for every flock of sheep. They have an outlier. I was like so maybe the plate on the black Enzo should be blk shp. And she's like, What do you mean? Black Sheep? Every flock desert has a black sheep at it. She looks at me says send me your wiring instructions. I'll take it just

Jeff Sterns  04:03

how much was this car 1.85

04:10

but I think she's I thought I you know I haven't I haven't been in the game and a little bit but I believe she still has it I believe is still in her possession and and it truly out of all the black end zones it was the one was wrecked by Don Cheadle or whatever that guy's name is he was driving because producers wanted to attract somewhere rented out it's done and gone. The other ones mild out I think it's been painted a couple times this one was the proudest one in black. So she should be very happy with that. But yeah, so you know and i think i have one other story and I don't know I guess I can say this name because because it's not it's not negative or or anything but there is a particular pro wrestler that's rather large. Um, and you can edit this out if you feel necessary but john cena right. So large man right. You Yes, so he came into the dealership because a lot of those guys lived around town. And he was adamant he wanted a Ferrari. I want a Ferrari. I'm like, john, your lats are so wide. And you're so muscular these cars, these cars are made for little Italian boy, man, I was like, You are a man's man. I'm like, you will not be able to fit in this thing is all fit. So I tried to talk about it try to talk about I'm trying to put them in a Bentley, I'm like in a Bentley is much more like user friendly, much more space, it still has some power, he wouldn't have anything to do with it. And I said, Okay, I'm gonna sell you a 360 spider, I'm gonna sell you this 360 snake, but when you trade it in to me, and three months, because you can't stand being in it, because you're getting your entire back inch. I was like, you know, you're probably gonna lose like, you know, significant amount of money. I'll never get rid of it. Three months later, I need to get rid of this car. You know how many times you know, I'm gonna flip the tables on you a little bit. You asked me about five stories? How many times and I'd love to hear a story from you about how you had warned a client, you had pre you had your pre prime the client that was making it, maybe not the most rational decision, or maybe not choosing what was best for their particular situation, time size, whatever it may be. And that you had to deal with that. Can you can you have you have any of those?

Jeff Sterns  06:34

Yeah, I do. And but it's interesting, because the listener that's not in the car business. We did spend a lot of our time talking people out of stuff. Yes, we did. And I mean, are we good souls? I'd like to think we're good souls. Yes. But a lot of it was a little bit of relationship preservation, because these people were so active trading and referred so many people that if you put them in something that they were going to get hurt on. There's no sense. You

07:06

coming back to you

Jeff Sterns  07:06

anyway, we all we wanted to do is share that cheat just a little we didn't want to get any of them. You know, we wanted to keep that keep coming back and just share.

07:14

What's that old saying again? pigs get fat.

Jeff Sterns  07:18

Don't be a sizer customer. who's an ATM repairman in Chicago wins the lottery. You know who it is or no

07:29

idea. Okay.

Jeff Sterns  07:33

Starts buying Cadillacs eventually makes his way over to the exotic building and starts dealing with me

07:43

the inevitable

Jeff Sterns  07:45

and we and they were he was so cute. I mean, him and his wife would were they were very sweet. It would wear matching matching outfits to all the events like all red head to toe or all Louie Vuitton shirt and pants editor, you know, like, crazy crazy. And by the way, we lost him on a relative actually. sad story took them out. Yes.

08:13

We love them though. Love don't

08:16

fire but because he was a good human.

Jeff Sterns  08:18

I loved him. He I mean, I had him and his kids to the house. You know, they were in the pool. I mean, you know, we I think that what we were and what I was to that family was a little like the Welcome Wagon relocation party, because they just moved to the area,

08:35

about a touchstone I think would be a perfect descriptor.

Jeff Sterns  08:39

I'll let you say it. I don't want to say hey, I'm the touchstone. Yeah. But you know, I mean, I would I was social. And I'd have on a Sunday 20 or 30 people over and invite them. So they meet other people, and we're comfortable. And the kids were in the pool, and it was very nice. And when he would trade, he would Oh, and by the way, he goes, Jeff, I trust you. Because when I was an ATM repairman, my boss who I loved was Jewish. And he never steered me wrong, you know, I didn't want to I didn't maybe made off wasn't a thing at the time. I don't remember like, Hey, we're not all good. But I, because he put that on me because he told me he trusted me. How can you not act trustworthy? How could you not take care of somebody when they're putting their life or their checkbook in your hands? Like for me to take advantage of that would be a big sin. So he would just ask me, How much should I trade for? And I would make money on the cars and let's explain. When you're selling a production car, and I can order 50 more Cadillacs or I could order 50. More infinities are Mercedes or if it's not a short supply car, and you need to give some away at cost or a loss or whatever to hit volume bonuses or all of that business then you can take care of that. Somebody and make nothing or lose a little or whatever. And frankly, even certain new cars, even exotic, we may have done that, if we had to do volume on a certain new car,

10:10

what about hidden hidden marks from rolls, or maybe we would sell zeros, you know, zero deals to hit, you know,

Jeff Sterns  10:19

like he's talking about his volume targets that that the manufacturer would give you coupled with customer satisfaction levels and how you did in your selling into your own territory and this sort of thing. So there being there be reasons in new cars other than the profit on that, on that specific sale, that you would want to do volume, but if it was on a Pre Owned car, we'd spend weeks and months and years trying to obtain certain Pre Owned cars, you can't order them from the factory if it's a certain color combination, or a certain odometer, or whatever it was. Right? So and when you go out of your mind, trying to get that certain 5000 mile with all the keys in the books and tools and records Testarossa that's never had any paint repair and still smells new. You can't sell it for $100 profit, I mean, when the other guys happy that you sold it to, but now you spend another year and a half to get another one like that. Okay. So I would hit him and at a at a trade difference, that was a profit. But it was always the lowest profit I can live with without him needing to grind me and a tip to buyers. You don't need to beat the crap out of your car salesman, you can actually treat them good. And they'll look out for you to

11:41

their relationship door swings

Jeff Sterns  11:42

both ways. at any level, just make sure that you've got a good established person who knows what they're doing. And I won't say that no one will take advantage of you. But you have a better chance of making good deal with that person asking for their guidance than beating them mercilessly.

11:56

So for those of you and viewing and listening land, that's probably the best advice you're going to hear out of this entire podcast right there.

Jeff Sterns  12:07

Other than have your foot on the brake when you put a

12:13

lift front noses of cars.

Jeff Sterns  12:17

The best advice is either how to make a good deal. Or don't go 140 in a kit car.

12:22

Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Sterns  12:24

So I would always hit him at a number that I can look him in the eye. And then I knew that he was going to be back in a month, two months, three months. And I knew that he was going to take about a 10 to a $15,000 hit on a 150 or $250,000 car. That's not terrible. I mean, people buy brand new $50,000 cars and lose 15 grand in the first minute. So it was it was good. It was good. We would talk people out of buying cars with higher miles to save money. Exactly. They thought Oh, geez, I mean, it's a it's 140 grand car that looks like 140 grand us car that I can buy for 99 grand, because it's got miles and it's dark green. And sometimes, you know, once they were fully disclosed that they still wanted it, then they still wanted it. But we would talk them out of those into paying 40 more grand to get to lose 10 less when they were done with it or 20 less.

13:21

Yes. Well, so that you know, I mean, I honestly I think that at the end of the day, you know, wait for all the listeners out there, you know, what if and when you get to the point where you're able to, like procure these types of automobiles that, that, you know, Mr. Sterns and I have dealt with on multiple occasions, I mean, you know that the key for you is to is to find a person that's real and will take care of you. Because truly, that's how we did what we did. It was it was taking care of the customer and I know that can be applied across multiple spectrums of business and, and whatnot. But I think we really did a good job with that.

14:09

And well, I

Jeff Sterns  14:10

know, I know we did. And I can quantify it. I mean, this isn't like bragging, but I know we did, because I still talk to a lot of those clients, and I'm out of that business. And they'll say, geez, I went in there. It's just not the same. That I mean, they mentioned it over and over and over even. I mean, here it is. 15 years later. Yeah. It's still not the same. So you've dealt with boxers, wrestlers, pro athletes. I think your gay bait comment was the woody party or, or Yeah, that surely

14:39

was in addition to that other client that every time he came in, and he would he would look at me and say divorced yet. Now I say, Mr. X, if I were to be divorced, I'm still I'm still I still like the weapons so

Jeff Sterns  14:55

well, is this the guy that took you out drinking and his intention was he He can get you drunk enough. Yes, he was, but it takes you home and you said, I'm up to that challenge. I'm still scraping

15:06

rules. I wouldn't drink with customers.

Jeff Sterns  15:10

Well, I do appreciate that. And I think, did I tell you that in the beginning is like a rule? Or did you?

15:21

It was rule number one, because we were doing so many events at the time, and we had those new cars coming out. And we had had a history of people possibly overindulging a little bit at events previously. And you know, from a sales perspective, it's, it's it, you know, I finally understood what you're meaning by it, which is, it's imperative to be in control of your mind and faculties when you're at these events. Because yes, they're socializing, but how many cars we throw dinner plates on and leave with clients at the end of those things. Right? If you're drinking, and, and you're not a solid mind, you're not able to do those deals, you may offend a client, there's a multitude of things, you may actually get upset when his wife bite your lip when she kisses you, or cups, your ass cheeks, you know, right? Like, when you're sober, like, I deal with it, I'm, I'm focused, I'm ready to go. And I'm not going to forget what our conversation was about the next day. Right. And so I thought, you know, I still to this day, like, for those of you and in the audience, my wife is a professional business person. And she asked lots of fancy professional conferences that I am required to go to, and work rooms. When I go to those things. I am my wife's advocate, I am I am her proxy when I'm there. So, why everyone else is getting drunk making fools of themselves. If those events I still took from Jeff, I won't drink at those events until the nights over, and I'm out in the public eye. I'm there, I'm there for my wife, I'm not there for myself, you know, I'm there for her to try to help her as much as I can. And, and, and and I think the same was in you know, the business, you know, how many event you know, for people that are listening? The amount of events that we did, for years was mind boggling. Like, like, honestly, you wouldn't like you wouldn't even believe the amount of things that we were doing. Like every other night, like you'd work all day and you're you're at a party at night, I mean, it was non stop. And if you would indulge on all the things that we have, you wouldn't have survived it. So again, another thing you know, audience, I'm going to take his podcast back over right now and give you a little heads up here is that for the two years that me and Mr. Sterns were together, I probably learned the most life lessons and that small two year period than I have from anybody else, at any length of time. For those of you that are listening, and will continue to listen to this podcast, there's a lot of gold in the words that come out of this gentleman's mouth You know, you sometimes you have to you have to weather all the machine gun fire to get the peat bits of gold, but I will tell you that from coming from somebody that's you know, that is a professional and advanced sales and whatnot. You ask anybody nobody would ever give compliment a salesperson who's good will rarely give compliment to where they learned. But I'm, I feel like I feel it should be said in this thing that you know, you really like made a huge difference in my life and in a positive way. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for the experiences I had along with you. But also with just the guidance and you know, and the mentoring I was young dumb and stupid. I mean, I know whenever guided me before, and every day, I honestly something comes out of my mouth. That is my family refers to it as a stern ism. That's a stern ism that that that I still remember and if for those of you that are listening to this podcast that's you know, for someone like me to say that about someone like Jeff is the rarest of the rare He's full of knowledge full of information is full of empathy and very well thought out. So even though you may be listening to this insanity brought you know podcast with me. I do want to remind Everybody that everything before and after me is gone. So just just keep that in mind. Well, the

Jeff Sterns  20:09

guests are the goal but I mean that's a that's like a super amazing compliment and it's well deserved now I can't edit it out, you know, what can I tell you? It's got a you know, it's gotta sit there because I gotta at least let my son's here for God's sake. Like I'm not as dumb as you think I am.

20:26

I teach my kids the same thing they never believe it.

Jeff Sterns  20:29

Exactly. Right. Well, Clay I'd like you to if if my funerals before you your funeral, just take that piece and play it at the funeral. And on my end, I'm saying now I want my tombstone to say like I told you

20:45

he was right, Jeff was right will be

Jeff Sterns  20:48

that's all I look, there's nothing really let's face it more important than being right, buddy. I

20:53

love it. I love you and and I'm so happy that we were able to get together for this thing. I think you're doing a great service to people out there that truly don't really get the inside deep inside knowledge of of how all this stuff works. So I'm so glad that you reached out for this thing. I hope this doesn't get edited down to like two minutes. And and I hope that you know people understand you know who you really are and what kind of person you are. I love you like a brother and you've been a big influence on my life and in a positive way and I'm eternally grateful for sure.

Jeff Sterns  21:34

Well, it means the world to me that you're saying this I love you also, man. I mean, I was so happy to call you and you know, part of you know what this podcast is for me is of course I want to give value. I want to give that perfect steak to the person that's listening but the twist or the stick is that I'm talking to people I know. So for me, it's all reconnect, reconnect. This is all pleasure.

21:58

This has been Jeff Sterns connected through cars