This story was once related to me:

A young Asian man rode a 10 speed into the Toronto Porsche dealership. Upon entering, the well dressed salespeople promptly dismissed the prospect and went about their business, except the ‘new guy’.

He decided to help the young man, who clearly was not a sales opportunity. They spoke, he asked questions and at the end of the conversation took the young man’s card, got on his bike and paddled away.

An hour later, he came back with a $150K certified check for a brand new Porsche.

I had this happen to me when I was younger. We walked into a high end boutique in Yorkville years ago after I had just received my first BIG commission check. I was there to buy two nice watches for Narda and myself. Our first ‘post graduation – we are finally making money’ treat.

We were dressed casually for a Saturday stroll, jeans, ball caps and the women at the counter treated us like we did not deserve to be in such a nice store. In minutes, I had enough and we left. We walked across the street, were treated very well and bought two very nice Tag watches.

I then walked back across the street, walked up to that snob woman and stuck out my arm with the new watch and said ‘Your aloof attitude just cost you this sale’ (They carried the same watch). As an aside, I went back to that other store a year later to buy my engagement ring, and then a year after that to buy our wedding bands … Their attitude cost them a good chunk of business.

Remember, you cannot judge a book by the cover. Treat everyone as your best client and you will always win.