She pulled up in a minivan with two kids in the backseat, a coffee in one hand, and an exhausted look that said this wasn’t her first stop.
“Y’all got any trailers under $3,500 that can haul hay, a UTV, and maybe a deep freezer?”
I smiled. “That’s specific. Let’s see what we can do.”
She was nice—sharp, respectful, and knew what she wanted. But every option we looked at had a tradeoff:
- One had the space, but no rear gate.
- Another had the ramp but couldn’t hold the weight.
- The third was perfect… but $1,100 over budget.
I watched her do the math in her head. The mental tug-of-war between what she needed and what she could afford was real.
She didn’t flinch, complain, or ask for a discount.
She just said, “Thanks. I’ll figure it out,” and turned to leave.
That’s when I made the call.
I walked her back to the “imperfect” unit and said, “Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll throw in the gate kit, and we’ll reinforce the floor with scrap from the shop.”
No extra charge.
Her eyes got glassy.
“You’d do that?”
“Yeah. Because you’re not trying to be difficult. You’re trying to get it done.”
That was 3 years ago.
She still sends folks my way. Not because I made a sale, but because I saw her—not just her budget.
Sometimes the hardest trailer to sell isn’t the one with complex specs or finicky paperwork.
It’s the one where you have to stop selling… and start serving.