When talking to a salesman, act slightly unenthusiastic. You want him to focus on the product not the commission.

I had to get a new car recently. The salesman was very nice and showed me (along with several other people) one of the cars he thought I'd be very happy with. He explained the car very well and answered a lot of our questions. <br><br>I noticed he spent a bit of extra time with me, sent more follow up texts to me and gave me slightly better offers. I assumed he liked me or resented the fact that my wife and I made significantly more than the couple next to us.<br><br>It wasn't until he told me he was one of the top salesmen in the country that I figured out what was going on. As a good salesmen, he knew how to read people and realized I was a serious buyer who would buy a car that day. The other couple next to us didn't seem like they were as serious about buying a car. <br><br>I wasn't just the only serious buyer though. I didn't care what I drove. I didn't care what color it was or what features it came with. I didn't care what brand, make or model it was. The only thing we cared about was how easy it was to buy a car, how easy the financing was going to be, and how good the deal would be. The salesman, realizing this, spent more time talking to us because he knew that he could sell us the car he wanted to sell us, and not necessarily the car we wanted to buy. <br><br>This is how we ended up with a leather interior and navigation we didn't want or need. He also offered us extended warranties on everything. He made a good argument for each one (the car was a good model and held its value, maintenance was expensive and difficult, etc.) and we ended up going for most of them.<br><br>The one thing we didn't want was a sunroof. Neither of us had ever owned a sunroof and we didn't want to risk the hassle of it being leaky. The car he showed us had a sunroof and we mentioned we would prefer not to have one. He looked slightly irritated by this comment, but said that it would be difficult to find the exact car we wanted without a sunroof but he would try. A couple of hours later he found us a car matching the description we told him (leather, navigation, no sunroof). It was a slightly more expensive model than the one he had shown us, but he made a good argument for it and gave us some good offers we couldn't turn down.<br><br>We ended up driving that car right off the lot. Throughout the process, the salesman seemed very happy with us and gave us a lot of attention. He said he really liked us and we were easy to work with. We felt like we got good attention and great service. We were happy with both the car and the salesman. I'm not sure how good of a deal we got compared to the average buyer, but we felt like he treated us (and his other customers) well. He did what he had to do to sell a car. I can't criticize that.<br><br>This is how car salesmen make their money. They are a service paid for by the manufacturer but don't work for them. They work for their customers and (like many jobs) are often paid based on their results. They have to make customers happy enough to make a purchase, while at the same time making money from the sale. They do this by reading people and making them happy while also selling them options and add ons. In my example above, what the salesman gave us was something we wanted for a price we were more than willing to pay. In exchange, he got a happy customer and a big sale that made him and the dealership a lot of money. <br><br>This is why you should never tell a salesperson you like. It doesn't matter if the product is good, (like the car in my example), if you show enthusiasm, they'll focus on squeezing what they can out of that enthusiasm instead of what they can do to make you (the customer) happy. <br><br>As one comment pointed out, this also applies to regular purchases. When my wife goes shopping, she tends to get offered free make up. She never wears make up so she never buys it. She also doesnt have good skin but the employees at the make up counter always seem to think she does. In reality, it's just that she is generally happy and not picky so they like talking to her. If given the chance, she'll talk to strangers for hours (she's an elementary school teacher).