Will You Make This Same Car Buying Mistake?

It's Friday afternoon. You leave work a little early and head on down to the car dealership. On the way you take special notice of three late model BMW's - the exact model you've been thinking about for the last several weeks. One is the same color you want. "Darn, that car looks good," you say almost aloud. You can't help thinking that the person driving that car looks pretty good too. Prosperous. Self assured. The kind of person who should be driving a Beamer like that. You can see you in that car. And with the dealership only a few minutes away you resolve to make that happen.

You make a couple extra turns so you can approach from the South and drive the full length of the lot before turning into the dealership. "There it is. Front row. Third car from the left. It's still here."

You park and head straight for the showroom. You don't even glance toward the lot. Better not to show any interest in case one of the salesman is looking out the window. You've got this whole car buying thing under control.

Two hours later you walk out of the dealership with the keys to Front Row-Third From The Left in your hand. You're tired. That was tougher than you thought it would be. You're happy alright. You got the car you dreamed about. But you're feeling a little uneasy.

You signed all the papers but the finance manager told you that there was a "little problem" with your credit report. " We couldn't finance you through our regular banks," he said, "but I think I can talk to some other financing people and take care of this on Monday." You only have the car - for sure - for the weekend and the dealer's finance guy is going to call you on Monday. What the heck. You bought that wall size plasma TV on credit a few months ago. If your credit report was so bad they wouldn't have you sold that TV, right?

We don't know what happened on Monday. Either our guy got yanked around like fresh taffy and paid way more than he should have, or he got his self-esteem pulverized when he handed back the keys to Front Row-Third From The Left.

This could have been a different story if our guy knew his FICO credit score and the financing rate he would qualify for in his part of the country before he walked into that car dealership. When the finance and insurance manager played the credit report gambit, our guy would have ready for him.

Car dealers make more money selling the financing packages of the people who buy their cars than they do the cars themselves. They may as well be selling a truckload of tomatoes. Same difference to them.

If you don't have a relative or a friend in the car finance business so that you can walk into a car dealership with your financing in hand, then you should be looking for something like the Car Coaching tool in the Suze Orman FICO Kit. The Orman FICO tool pulls information right off your credit report, tells you your FICO score for all three credit reporting bureaus, and then tells you the interest rate that a person with your credit history and FICO score would qualify for in the state you live in. You can't get better information than that.

Holiday Cards Inspire Company Teamwork

The holiday season will be here before you know it and sending holiday cards to clients and business associates can be a fun activity that inspires company teamwork. By sending holiday cards, you are promoting the company's name and goodwill and sending messages of thanks for successful partnerships, while encouraging customer loyalty. The process of sending cards to all customers, friends and business associates can be time consuming and labor intensive, but here are some ways to get the job done cheerfully and to promote office teamwork at the same time.

1. Pre-planning. Just as Santa has checked his list twice, so should you. Confirm all contact names and mailing addresses with every department in the company. Be sure the list is as up-to-date as possible and that all new contacts have been added since last years list. Also delete those that you'll not be remembering with cards this year for whatever reason. A correct list is a significant time saver later.

2. Proof. The cards have arrived. Have several team members look them over to be sure they were imprinted correctly and that the cards received match the order placed. Double check the quantity of cards and envelopes so there are no last minute rushed reprint orders which can prove costly.

3. Assemble. If your card has multiple parts, like ribbons to tie around layered cards, gather a team for hands on help. Make it fun. After all, this is one task you can do while you discuss your holiday shopping plans or what to wear to the annual office party. Put one together as a sample before doing them all. Keep hands and work areas clean and keep the group small so the work actually does get done.

4. Addressing. This is the most labor intensive part of the operation but doesn't have to be overwhelming. A handwritten address is much nicer than stuck on labels. Attractive cursive handwriting is the key. Divide the list and find several with nice penmanship to help as it is not necessary for all envelopes to be addressed by the same person. If you can't handle it all internally, hire outside help for a portion of the list. Hopefully the return address was preprinted.

5. Personalize. Throw a signing party. The holiday cards are imprinted with the company name and logo but if you can, add a short note or sign your name for a truly personalized card. Break your list up into manageable batches and do a few at a time so the handwriting will be recognizable towards the end! Depending on the size of the company or the size of the list, you may not want to sign every card. Do try to sign cards for those you work with directly for a special, personal touch. Go ahead and put the personalized card in the right envelope!

6. Seal and stamp. You're almost done! This is another step that can be fun, since it can be done while visiting! Gather a group that doesn't normally interface for an office networking opportunity. Seal and stamp each envelope in assembly line fashion. Have someone at the end check each card off the mailing list. The holiday cards are ready for mailing and the team enjoyed the experience of getting them done together. Next year you'll have employees volunteering to help in the process!