Bill Myers

This is a true story . . .

I had a friend who had an old AMC Hornet automobile he wanted to sell. He knew that the car wouldn't sell for much, but he was sure that at a low enough price there would be a buyer. So he placed an ad in a local newspaper offering the car for $500 or best offer.

The ad only produced one call - but the caller was interested enough in the car to want to take a test drive.

The test drive went pretty well. The car started and drove quite well (as well as can be expected with a Hornet). It looked like my friend had found a buyer.

But just as the test drive ended, the car caught on fire. Even though my friend quickly reduced the price, the seller decided he wasn't interested in buying a car that was on fire - at any price.

Moral of this story - it's hard to sell a car that's on fire, even when you are willing to drop the price.

Keep this story in mind when you are showing your own products to potential customers. If your product has problems, you may not be able to sell it at any price.

It's wiser to fix and remove problems before you show a product (whether it be a car, a home, a web site, etc.) to potential buyers. Problem free products always command a better price and deliver more customer satisfaction. (Just ask anyone who has ever tried to sell a product with a very obvious problem - like being on fire.)