Discourteous

I helped my brother-in-law buy a new car last weekend.

He’s not a fan of dealing with salespeople or talking numbers, so he asked me to come along and handle the negotiation. Not a  problem — I’ve helped him with several deals and negotiations like this before so I was glad to do it again.

I’ve bought and sold a handful of cars over the years, but this time it was something else.  What a terrible car buying experience we had! It has never been as unpleasant as it was for us this time.   

My brother-in-law had done his homework. He already knew exactly which two models he wanted to test drive. And our plan was simple — try them both, make a decision, and drive home in his new car. 

He was ready.

Unfortunately, the salesperson wasn’t.

The guy had been “in the business for over 20 years,” as he proudly told us. I knew we’d never see him again, so I didn’t bother playing along with his “get to know you” small talk. I just wanted to keep things professional and focused.

But It didn’t matter.

It was still a terrible experience.

The Salesperson helped us find the right cars to test drive and even the color my brother-in-law wanted. But the moment we started talking about price, everything changed.

He got rude.

Very rude.

When I politely pushed back — already knowing the invoice price and what kind of margin he had to work with — he cut me off with, “That’s the price. We’re a business. We have to make money too.”

His attitude matched the way he’d treated us the entire day: arrogant, dismissive, and impatient. Every question we asked was met with resistance. Every request was a burden. It was as if he couldn’t wait for us to leave.

But a Real Christian Businessman knows that’s not how you treat people.  No matter what business we’re in — cars, construction, consulting, or coffee — people are not problems to be managed. They’re opportunities to serve! We don’t have to agree with every request, but we can always show respect.

That salesman could have done something (anything!) to make us feel like we were getting a fair deal. Maybe “go check with his manager” or show us a pretend invoice with different numbers.

But instead, he chose arrogance over humility, pride over professionalism.

In the end, my brother-in-law loved the car and was ready to move forward. He asked me to stop negotiating, signed the papers, and drove home happy.

And me? I’m still reeling from our interaction with the salesperson. 

Because his attitude is a reminder to all of us in business: people remember how you treat them far longer than they remember what they paid.

So, take a lesson from our experience this week.

In every deal, every meeting, every conversation — let’s be the one who treats people with respect.

Let’s Listen. Be polite. Represent Christ well in the way we do business.

As Jesus said:

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
– Luke 6:31 (NIV)