Full throttle

Shane Faunce doesn't shy away from one fact that makes his particular sales job a constant challenge: Unless someone makes their living on the water, they don't need a boat. It's one of life's ultimate luxury buys.

“When someone is trying to buy a boat, it's an emotional purchase,” says Faunce, president of Tampa Yacht Sales. “I want to work with somebody willing to slow down enough to take advice from someone who's been doing this a long time. Everyone wants to sell a boat and make a commission. But the way to go about it is to make sure you're giving the customer the right information, not just what they want to hear.”

Faunce accepts that this raw honest approach might cost him a sale. “I really try to help people understand the true cost of boating,” he says. “If I scare away someone looking at a $100,000 boat and I don't sell a boat to them, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Because I probably helped them not make a financial mistake.”