The Encounter

As soon as we stepped out of our car at the Porsche/Audi dealership a hispanic man walked up to us and said hello. He shook our hands and asked us what we were looking for. We were honest so we told him we were college students and that we were looking for something with a 4-wheel drive and in an affordable price range. So he took us back to see some used cars. On the way he asked, "Yo hablos espanol?" I replied that I didn't speak spanish and we continued. The first car we looked at was a red Mazda which he said was in perfect condition, but had visible scratches on the side. He then left for about five minutes to get the keys so we could see the interior and the mileage. I asked him if it was a 4-wheel drive. His reply, "I think so." He asked us about how we would pay down payments several times so we told him our parents would help finance our purchase. As soon as he heard that he moved on to some more expensive cars. The next car we looked at was a subaru. Again he said it was "perfect." This time it actually did seem to be in good condition. We asked him some questions about the mileage and warranty and he gave us vague answers. The last car we looked at was a Jetta. It was nice. Again he used too many adjectives and not enough data, but we thanked him for his service and said, "We'll think about it." At which point he pulled out his buisness card and offered us a "bonus discount" if we called him. As we were leaving he asked for my sister's number to inform her about upcoming deals. She gave it to him and we left.

Argument

Claim: Buying a used car is a smart choice.

Reason: Buying a used car will give you a quality vehicle for a reduced price.

Implicit Assumption: Whatever gives you a quality vehicle for a reduced price is a smart choice.

Audience

My sister and I went to the dealership together so we were the audience.

Goal

To convince us to buy a car.

How

For me this man had no authority. He barely spoke my language. He didn't know his statistics. All he had going for him was a positive attitude. The fact that he left us for five minutes to get the keys was also very unprofessional. Emotionally, he was also unconvincing. His tone was flat and dull. There was little to no excitement. He didn't ask me about myself or my sister for that matter. He made no attempt to relate to either of us. Logic too had nothing to do with his presentation. Instead of quoting facts and statistics he just said, "This car is perfect." In fact in the 10 minutes we were there he probably said "perfect" 50 times. His argument was not sufficient. In fact it was lacking support.

Effective

I'm sure Willy is a wonderful man, but he is entirely ineffective as an English salesman. The little piece of paper taped on the Subaru made me want to buy the car more than he did.