In the age of online car buying, dishing out more than 1,500 cars is pretty damn spectacular.
As car sales have developed into a more digital-friendly landscape, would-be car buyers are opting for a more personalized purchasing experience. Companies like Carvana have turned car sales into an Amazon-like venture and Tesla is bucking the trend by eschewing the traditional dealership experience.
But some people still prefer a human touch when it comes to buying a new or used vehicle, much like people prefer getting someone on the phone when their online order didn't come in on time (I'm projecting here).
Les Stanford Cadillac
That's how Joe Girard, an 89 year-old car salesman in the Greater Detroit area, thrived for 40 years in the industry.
Absolutely Crushing It
As reported by the Detroit Free Press, Girard (also known as the Michael Jordan of car sales) set an actual Guinness World Record in 1973 by selling 1,425 Cadillac and Chevrolet cars. This point of pride stayed with Girard like a badge of honor until just recently when another local GM salesman, Ali Reda, broke his annual record, slinging out 1,530 total new vehicles and 52 used vehicles in 2017.
That's 130 cars a month, on average, or six or seven per day based on a 20-day work month. That's, like, "Jeremy Piven in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" good.
This feat, while amazing in the world of digital consumerism, was taken as too good to be true for the original title holder, Girard. In fact the almost-90-year-old retiree put it more bluntly: "This guy claims he beat my record...What I did immediately, I called my attorney."
Harsh. But what's even more ironic is that Reda claimed that he learned how to whip out about seven cars a day by reading one of Girard's books on car-selling. Reda's boss, dealership general manager Gary Stanford, said the record set by his salesman is legit. "It's very official, trust me...And if someone—" we're guessing Girard, here—"doesn't believe the data, well, they're more than welcome to consult with GM."
This post was originally published on February 23, 2018.
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