Growing up, I was obsessed with cars. I knew every make and model. I could spot a fake exhaust from fifty feet and tell you the 0–60 of a Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut. I mean, sure, the Plaid is fast, but it’s no Jesko. I was basically a walking, talking Doug DeMuro commentary track.
So, when it came time to pick a career, car sales seemed like an obvious move. Why not get paid to talk about the thing I love?
I thought buyers would be blown away by my knowledge. That I’d close deals just by rattling off torque specs and resale values.
They weren’t.
Turns out, the more I talked, the more buyers drifted. They’d smile politely, say, “I’ll think about it,” and disappear.
Worse, I started picking up bad habits from the veteran sales guys around me. You know the ones—pressure tactics, talking over buyers, pretending to “check with the manager” when the price wasn’t right. I had become exactly what I used to not trust.
I felt gross. And stuck.
Then a friend sent me a video of a car salesperson who sold like what they called a buyer facilitator. Someone who asked better questions, didn’t pressure, and helped people think clearly. The guy wasn’t “selling.” He was making it easier for the buyer to decide.
That hit me.
That’s the kind of salesperson I wanted to be. But how? Where do you learn how to sell like that?
I found Topaz Sales Consulting. Reached out. Loved everything about the Buyer Facilitator Philosophy. I pitched it to my sales manager, but he gave me the usual: “No budget.”
Classic.
But I wasn’t done. I called Topaz back and found out they had a cohort option—perfect for solo reps from different companies who still wanted real sales training. I brought that idea back to my manager, and he finally said yes.
That training changed everything.
I stopped trying to convince people and started getting infinitely curious. I stopped flooding buyers with info and started listening to what mattered to them. I learned how to set clear ground rules, uncover decision criteria, and most of all, stay out of “convincing” mode.
The shift was immediate. People opened up. Trust grew faster. They thanked me even when they didn’t buy.
Now?
I sell more cars than I ever did before. But more importantly, I feel good about how I sell. No more tricks. No more pretending. Just real conversations, real connections, and real decisions made with confidence.
I still love cars. But now, I love helping people buy the right one for them even more.
BTW – Here’s the video from the friend