Junkyard Wisdom

Sometimes you have to smash an alternator.  That was the lesson I learned from my Uncle George.

One day my Uncle George was running the wrecking yard.  Not sure why he was doing this.  He and my father were always swapping things around and as a kid (I was probably about 10-years old) and I could never keep track of who owns what.  So I guess my Uncle George and my father were partners at that time because Uncle George was running the front counter.

On this particular day a customer asks Uncle George if he has a particular type of alternator.  It was a rare type, something that none of the smaller junkyards would have.  But we had it and a few moments later the alternator is sitting on the counter.  My Uncle George quotes a price (let’s say $25), the customer acts shocked at the high price, and gives a counter price (let’s say $15).  My Uncle George says no, the prices is $25, and that’s all there was to it.  The customer says, “Ah, c’mon George, you know that isn’t worth more than $15.  Now be reasonable.”

At this I could see my Uncle’s eyes flash.  But his voice remained calm and he said $25 again.

The customer just kept pushing and pushing for a lower price.  My uncle seemed calm as he just kept saying $25 was the price.  The customer grew pushy.  It wasn’t really negotiating.  It wasn’t even haggling. It was just pestering and whining by the customer.  And anybody that knew my Uncle George could see that he was getting angry.

At one point, my Uncle George waited for the customer to stop talking, and then calmly said, “Look, I’ll say it one more time, the price is $25.  Take it or leave it.”

Of course, the customer rolled his eyes and threw up his arms and said something like, “It’s just not worth that, George!”

And just at that moment…in the blink of an eye…my Uncle George reached under the counter, grabbed a heavy mallet, and put a full roundhouse swing on the alternator.  It was crushed and completely ruined.  Then my Uncle calmly looked at the customer and said, “So now what will you pay for it?”

Aghast, shocked, and probably outraged, the customer turned around and walked out the door mumbling something about my Uncle George being nuts.  I thought he might be right!

Then my Uncle George put the mallet back, put the crushed alternator into a bin…and out of the corner of his eye he winked at me.

Later, I thought about his actions.  On the surface it seemed ridiculous and irrational.  He was irritating a customer and ruining something that had value.  But I knew my Uncle George was no fool.  So I had to think about what I’d just seen because there seemed to be something deeper going on.

Years later, I figured it out.  My Uncle George was creating an image as somebody who was unafraid of losing.  Having that reputation had tremendous value.  My Uncle George was practicing a proven negotiating ploy:  do not be afraid to lose when you are in negotiations or you’ll surely fail.

You see, the story of the smashed alternator went around all the junkyard circles and became well known.  In this way, for a very modest $25, my Uncle George gained a reputation as one you should not try to chisel.  He might have lost a customer and a $25 sale, but he made it really clear that negotiations were probably not going to work out well if you push too hard.  Better to overpay a little bit than to see your needed part get smashed on the counter.

The lesson has stuck.  I’ve failed at this many times, but most of the time I can be very calm and impassionate about negotiations.  If they work, great. If they don’t, then I’m taking the other guy down with me, and I’m fine falling off the cliff together.  When you get that message across to the other person, you’ve basically won.

How does this fit into the feel good world of many management gurus who want us to believe that healthy negotiations are a win/win situation?  Well, it doesn’t.  I believe in the win/win approach and hope to achieve that most of the time.  Actually, most of the time that is exactly how successful negotiations end.  But sometimes you enter into negotiations when that is not possible.  Sometimes it’s win or lose.  Sometimes you deal with a person who doesn’t play a win/win game.  When you find yourself in that situation, it’s good to have a reputation as one who just doesn’t really care that much if you make the deal.

Sometimes you just have to smash some alternators.