By Alec Pendleton, Big Ideas for Small Companies, powered by The MPI Group

I recently bought a used car for my daughter. I expected it to be unpleasant — because car-shopping, whether new or used, has always been a notoriously one-sided affair, with sellers having much more information than buyers, and rarely disclosing enough to level the playing field. Even in our digital age, with access to CarFax reports, dealer costs, etc., I always feel that there’s something that I don’t know.

In short: I rarely walk away from an automotive transaction without feeling that I’ve been somehow swindled or hoodwinked.

But this time was different. My daughter wanted a hard-to-find car, a three-year-old Volvo V60 Cross Country coming off a lease, with low mileage and specific colors and options. I thought: needle in a haystack. Yet searching online turned up a number of needles from haystacks across the country, and ultimately led us to CarMax, a national dealership chain with an extensive and (mostly) transparent information system.

I dutifully traipsed to the CarMax store in her area and spent a fascinating couple of hours on the computer with a sales “consultant,” researching several cars that met our criteria. We reviewed mileages, Carfax reports (including service histories and title chains), and lots of pictures. The car that looked best was at another location a few hundred miles away — but for $200, with no further obligation, CarMax would truck it to the local dealer for a test drive.

Let’s go for it, I said.

Meanwhile, they evaluated our trade-in, a 10-year-old Volvo with high mileage and various ailments, and made a written offer to buy it within nine days, at a specific price. As we waited for the prospective car to arrive (about a week), I shopped the trade-in at two other dealers, both of which offered 25% less.

By the time the prospective car arrived, I had returned home — so my daughter took it for the test drive, eager to complete the purchase. Alas, after only 10 minutes she called to say she didn’t like the way it drove, and had a bad feeling about it. So: She took it back, we forfeited the $200, and walked away — feeling that it was $200 well spent.

Even better, we still sold CarMax the old car, knowing that whatever happened, we were unlikely to get a better offer. The company showed us substantial transparency on both sides of the transaction, as both seller and buyer. And while we didn’t find the car we wanted, I would definitely use CarMax again.

That’s the profitable magic of transparency: trust, customer satisfaction, and repeat business.

Unfortunately, our next transaction reinforced just how rare CarMax’s enlightened business model remains in the automotive sector.

Still searching for our unicorn, we found another possibility a few hours from both her home and mine. As it happened, it was in a city where my daughter had business that weekend, so she rented a car for the trip, and we met there. While she attended to business, I went to the dealer, drove the car, and found it to be exactly what we wanted.

If only the story stopped there.

Before my trip I had spoken to the dealer, both to confirm details — condition, photos, service history, etc. — and to agree upon a price, excluding, of course, tax, title, and “fees.” Yet once I was at the dealership, watching my new best friend compile the paperwork, I noticed a small sign on his desk: “Dealer Processing Fee $599.” This, it turns out, is just the latest obfuscation device used by dealers far and wide to muddy the waters of a deal. Oh, and it’s, “Not negotiable, just part of the cost of doing business.”

Please.

We bought the car anyway, for $599 more than I expected. My daughter is delighted, and I still feel we got a decent price. But once again I feel swindled. The dealer would no doubt claim that he was being transparent, since there was a small sign on his desk; and, after all, he does need to cover his expenses. And I, of all people, understand the need for any business to make a profit. In fact, I would have happily paid the extra $599, if he’d just admitted to it up front, on the phone, before I got there.

But I will never do business with him again. And that’s what he and other hoodwinking dealers lose: transparency’s magical ability to generate multiple, profitable sales out of a single, trustworthy transaction.

How do you and your firm leverage the profitable magic of transparency? Do you see yourself as a partner with customers in solving multiple needs over time, at prices that are fair to both of you? Or do you view every sale as a contest of wits and will now, as you wring every last penny out of a single transaction?

I’ll bet your customers already know.

Read more of Alec’s thoughts on successfully running a small business here.

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