When McAndrews is asked about the challenges of the next generation, she says she has no answer. She’s never even thought about it. She still meets people every day who do want to buy, and she won’t worry until that changes.
At RVs Northwest, among all the sales tactics, one gets repeated often: Don’t ignore the wife. She makes 98 percent of the buying decisions, the salespeople insist. Floor plans are important; don’t talk too much about the engine. McAndrews’ colleagues, almost exclusively men, credit her sales to more than just her customer service or RV expertise. She’s so good, they say, because she’s a woman. She points out good counter space and interior design. But McAndrews is also successful because she’s restless. She makes sure she’s always busy, always working harder than the salesmen. She’s checking emails between answering phone calls and meeting the “fresh” customers who come through the door looking to shop. She’s one of the only salespeople willing to chase down leads from the dealership’s website. (Last month, she sold a $100,000 motorhome, all over email.) She files every potential customer’s wants in her mind, hoping to sell them on something delivered new to the lot or someone else’s trade-in. At home, she just remodeled her kitchen. She’s sewing throw pillows and transforming the basement into a movie room with theater seats and a big screen — all paid for by her job selling RVs. On a Friday night, McAndrews picks up Kentucky Fried Chicken and sodas on her way home. In a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood, the house isn’t modest, but it’s not extravagant either. The family’s boat and new travel trailer are parked out front; there’s a trampoline out back. McAndrews’ 13-year-old son is out at a friend’s house, and her 10-year-old daughter Send comments to has a friend over for dinner. The girls erupt editor@inlander.com. in a giggle fit before they leave the table to listen to music and check Instagram. They’re all growing up too fast, McAndrews says. At least when they’re out camping, she can set a “no-texting” rule. Her husband Dave, an experienced RV salesman himself, praises his wife for working hard at home and on the lot. Then he boils sales down to a simple lesson. “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason,” he says. “Just listen.” It helps to be genuinely excited about the RV lifestyle. The McAndrews started raising their son living in an RV park full time, pitching a playpen for him under the motorhome’s awning. She uses her latest purchase as a conversation point with potential customers. “These bunks are great for the kiddos,” she’ll say. “The trailer I just bought has bunk beds too.”
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As McAndrews chats on the phone with a customer one sunny afternoon, a young salesman across the showroom talks to his own customer about a bad experience she had with a previous RV. His smile never fades. “Well, that’s the past,” he tells the woman. “We’re talking about the future — the American dream!” Here, under the showroom lights and on the gravel lot full of travel trailers and motorhomes, salespeople aren’t thinking about changes in taste or culture or all the reasons Americans won’t want to buy RVs in the future. They’re thinking about today, and basing their careers on the same ideas their country was built on: hope, optimism, a certainty that tomorrow will always be better than today. When a balding, retired military pilot comes in to look at small motorhomes, he doesn’t buy. But as he’s leaving, he tells McAndrews he’s looking because his sister has an RV, and she’s always teasing him about being too frugal. “Why don’t you spend some of that money?” she asks him. McAndrews’ eyes light up. She tells the man his sister is right. He deserves it. “I tell my parents, ‘I don’t want an inheritance,’ ” she says. “ ‘I didn’t work for your money. You did. You should spend it.’ ” n
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