The salesperson connected me with the general manager. In essence, I told him that I was disappointed with how this had gone, that I felt I was well within my legal rights to demand the price we’d contracted. However, since they’re the only dealer that can work on our rig should problems arise, I felt it was in both of our interests to come up with a solution — but that I would agree to a higher price only if I were to benefit too. He was apologetic about the situation but said there were limitations to what they could do and that this was an issue that was impacting the entire industry. With that, I made a proposal: “If you agree to give us the extended service warranty, UV paint protection, $1,000 worth of free labor during the first three years of ownership, and a point reduction in our financing, then we’ll accept the 5% increase.” His first reaction was, “You want me to give you all of that?” I calmly replied, “The other option for you is that you don’t increase the price, and we’ll drop the demands. The choice is yours, but I’m willing to work with you either way.” With that, he said he needed to speak with the owner.
In the end, we got three times the value in exchange for the price increase. We were within our rights to demand no price increase, but had we dug in our heels on principle or continued to whine about the unfairness of the situation, we wouldn’t have gained all that we did. Instead, we took a breath, got curious, did some planning, and made a proposal. If you find yourself in a similar situation, my advice to you is to stop whining and start negotiating!
After a couple of hours, the GM called back and said, “I can do all of it, but I can’t give you the free labor for three years — I can only do it for one.” I looked over my wish list and, for the close, went with, “If you agree to have it ready for pickup this weekend, you have yourself a deal.” “Deal,” he replied.
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