I was shopping last year and got a great reception at the piper booth. They were very knowledgeable, put together some sample flights and had good operating cost info. They even went and found a salesman from the piper dealer once I told there where I lived.

I didn't end up with a piper, but it wasn't because they didn't try to sell me one.

I'm in my mid 30s and usually dress like I'm broke.

My friend at Oshkosh went into a porta-potty.

On the wall in black marker was scrawled: "I could have been a Cirrus!"

What a hoot!

BH

The folks that got all giddy after the reading about Textron's reply to the ruddervator skin issue, over in the "Bad news for V tails" thread…........should read this thread.

It's all about the numbers:
I love my 1989 Bonanza. Fantastic value.

But for the brand new ones: 1089lbs useful load for 900k ......
Does not matter how good of a salesman you are, Cirrus is way more attractive.


It was really sad seeing their display.

But that Baron... wow.... that is one sexy bird. Thank god they did not take credit card...

Yet you dropped $1.5m+ on building your own experimental rather than buying a gently used king air, so the trickle-up didn't fully mature here. I fully support your current project and look forward to seeing your first flight reports, you're on the homestretch now.

FIFY

Several Oshkoshes ago I slowed my pace in front of the Stemme display. Don Bell struck up a conversation and quickly painted a very compelling picture of how it would feel to own one. In less than 10 minutes he had me seriously considering what I’d need to do to work out owning what is a beautiful but relatively impractical airplane. I had no idea a Stemme existed before that. I’m not even much of a glider enthusiast.

That’s sales.

I’m still thinking about a Stemme.

Profiling and rationing coffee.......geez

Profiling is a huge mistake in professional sales. I’m sure these “sales reps” have no training which is unforgivable when you’re trying to sell a $1,000,000 airplane much less anything else. It might be that one half of one percent of the folks the salesman might meet are financially capable and actually interested but it doesn’t take long for a pro to determine that after a few key questions once the prospect has been greeted. That’s the art and it takes the right personality with training to find the diamond in the rough. Do things correctly and you’ve got a shot at selling a new plane.

Ha! 35 years, and I remember the day I learned that like it was yesterday!!

[harp music]
October 31, 1984. 10 minutes to closing time. Month is over. I'm near the top of the board, and completely satisfied with my month's production selling Nissans. Party time.
Old guy and a teenager pull up to the curb in a 10 year old sedan, wearing $25 worth of clothes. Everyone turns their back to not miss quitting time. I'm equally tempted.

I thought "what the hell" he looks like a nice guy. I approached and he points into the showroom. "Is that the 25th Anniversary 300ZX?"
"Yessir, came in today, we only get one".
"Mind if I take a look at it?"
"Of course not, come on in!"

He spends 90 seconds quietly walking around it, stopping at the $5000.00 extra dealer mark up sticker.

"I'll take it. But, I'm not paying THAT for it!...You're going to have to pay the license fee!"
[/ harp music]

Thus, the way was paved for caps on maximum commissions...

One of the arguments for a Bonanza or a Baron is that it's still in production. Based on Mike C's sales figures, this won't be the case for much longer. Time to move on, probably.

Did anyone spend time at the TBM tent? I'm curious to hear whether they got the 'vibe' right in the same way Cirrus did.

I'm 70 and do the same. It's because I AM broke, though.

Arlen, I felt the same way.
I would fire the whole lot of them who were working the booth.
I was there at 8:58. By their store, looking to buy some logo merchandise. It was roped off. “She is not here yet. Can you come back at 10:00 or so” no, I can not.

Think about this for a second....
You make and sell airplanes.
You are in the worlds largest gathering of pilots and airplane owners. Over 500,000 visitors during the show. I call this a target rich environment. And yes, in shorts and sneakers you can’t tell who is who.
And you don't have a plan, Target, objectives?
No significant signage? I found the brand new King Air king ranch edition, only because I went looking for it and knew about it.
Yes, I’m sure this is hard work. Rotate your staff to keep their attitudes up. Do some type of promotion, sign up, something

Contrast this with the Cirrus or even Honda booth. I went looking for Gary and to sit in the Vision. I was approached by two friendly people before I even got to the counter.
Their logo merchandise was outstanding. So was Honda Jet.
Another pleasant experience was the ForeFlight booth. They even talked me in to an upgrade. I’ll play with the 3D views, the alternate suggestion, etc later.

So sad to see our beloved brand circle the drain.

Ok, it’s cars, but...

My wife and I decided to replace her SAAB. We went to the local rural Ford dealer that operates on the ‘no haggle’ principal. We looked at the Edge and the Explorer, and neither impressed Diane. She says “l really liked my Jeep Cherokee”, and the sales guy says “we have those” - they were a Jeep dealership as well. He brings out a Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 liter hemi, and she loves the size, the power and the color.

So now he has shown us three cars, and invested maybe 2 hrs... and I say, “she’ll take it” and we start doing the paperwork. The sales guy shakes his head and says “Honestly? I thought your were just tire kickers and the casino was closed, so you came here looking for something to do.”

My point is he never gave up on us, and we did buy an SUV that day, just not the ones we had studied. Now, if I could only get her to let me drive it once in a while...

Warmly,
Dave

You guys getting snubbed are doing something wrong. I got a 30-minute private tour of the PC-24. They did make me wear shoe covers.