Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 03/99) - Moving product is the bottom line for all salespeople, but the real charge comes not from products, but people, says car salesman Steve Brooks.

"The most gratifying part of the sales experience comes with first-time new car owners -- it could be a young person or an old person -- to see the excitement they feel in owning a new car," said Brooks, who works at Kingland Ford.

For the 11-year resident of Yellowknife, selling cars is a continuation of a long-time love of cars that began back on the East Coast.

"I've always enjoyed motor sports, Ford specifically, repairing, fixing, racing -- that was basically my background from New Brunswick."

In New Brunswick, Brooks was involved in bracket racing, a form of drag racing.

The focus, now, is as at least as much on people as it is cars, which is OK by Brooks.

"I like dealing with people, and here you get to deal with all kinds," he said.

Brooks works on commission and is therefore effectively running his own business within a business.

He can come and go as he pleases, because if he doesn't sell, he doesn't get paid.

He appreciates the freedom but, like most people running their own business, the work doesn't leave a whole lot of free time.

Work hours at the dealership stretch beyond both sides of the 9 to 5 routine of most people. Brooks' day begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. -- at least that's the plan.

"If you have customers you have to deal with after hours, you deal with them," said Brooks.

Those customers extend well beyond the borders of the city, to just about any place in Nunavut and the NWT "with more than two miles of road," said Brooks. "A lot of our sales are to people in the communities, so you do a lot of work over the phone."

Whether over the phone or in person, Brooks said his job is the same, to sell people what they want and, at the same time, ensure it fits their needs.

Brooks said, for him, the only downside of the job is how little time it leaves for the other focus of his life.

"Sometimes it's hard to pull yourself away for family time," he said.