I love my role as editor of Rural Lifestyle Dealer and finding ways to help you be more successful. That means whenever I’m making a larger purchase of any item, I scrutinize the process for ideas to share with you.

This happened last week when I made a larger household purchase. In this instance, the younger salesperson did a lot of things right — and two major things wrong. Let’s start with the good. She greeted us at the door, with a friendly, “What can I help you with?” approach. We were in the buying mode that day, not just browsing, so she had an easy head start on the sale. She zeroed in on that and asked a few key questions to introduce her inventory and started narrowing down the selection process. Price was not discussed. I liked that because she didn’t assume I was a budget shopper and gave me the impression that she was going to spend time with us, looking through the options.

She led us through the showroom, recommending a model that fit our specifications and was mid-priced. She gave us just enough detail about the product and her company, without losing our attention. We then looked at two other models, comparing features and prices. She always talked in terms of bundling a few smaller items with the main purchase and explained why. She also explained why she wasn’t showing us the other models in the showroom. I liked that, too. She didn’t skimp or overload on the details and gave us a few minutes alone to compare and talk budget. In about 20 minutes, she made a $700 sale.

Here’s the bad news. She could have sold me more and I left the store happy with my purchase but with a feeling of mistrust. Here’s that scenario. We stopped at a related item and asked a few questions. I said I wasn’t ready to buy yet. However, she missed the opportunity to offer an incentive to convince me that I should turn my interest into a purchase that day.

And, when we left the store, I saw out of the corner of my eye that she “high fived” a co-worker. I know that salespeople make their money when they make a sale, but it did make me wonder about my decision and question her trustworthiness. Did I pay more than I should have? Did she talk me into something that helped her make her quota, but wasn’t the best choice for me?

The real question is will I buy from her again? I’m not sure. And, that’s the really unfortunate part because repeat customers are the backbone of any business — and any good salesperson’s paycheck.