Earlier this summer, Greg and I decided it was time to trade in one of our old cars and lease a new one – one with four-wheel drive. Although we love our Saab convertibles (yes, plural), after a few harrowing events last winter, we knew it was time for a replacement.

Not being much of a car person, my only criteria were that the new car be a smallish SUV, have 4 wheel-drive and, preferably, be white. Beyond that, we decided that this was a short-term decision based on cost and safety.

The first car dealer we visited gave us the standard run-around: lots of waiting, “let me talk to my manager,” blah, blah, blah. We walked out mid-sales pitch, a little angry and certainly frustrated.

At the next stop we got a little smarter with our approach. We explained what had happened at the last dealership and that they needed to cut to the chase a lot faster. But there was still some dancing around – wanting us to drive the car before we talked about the money, etc.

I won’t bore you with the rest, but I will say that by the fifth car dealer, we figured out how to get the information we wanted pretty fast.

I walked in and asked to speak to the sales manager right away. I said, “I’d like to know how much the monthly payment for X model car is with $3K down, 12K miles a year. I don’t want to drive it – I just want to know how much it costs a month.”

And bingo – we got our answers. This was the car dealership we ended up choosing.

It made me think about other seemingly complex and expensive decisions business owners have to make all the time. Decisions like: Who should redesign and build my website? What contact management software should I choose? Should I migrate to Gmail? What calendar management software will be best for me?

What I learned while choosing a car to lease is that with some decisions up front and a little strategy, big choices can be made faster and more confidently.

1. Be clear about what you’re trying to accomplish. For us, it was a safe car with 4-wheel drive. When the sales people started talking about features that weren’t important to us, my head started to spin a little. Over the course of the day, I learned how to stop the conversation about things that weren’t decision criteria and stay on course.
2. I chose the process – not the car dealers. All of the dealers wanted us to drive the car before we talked about money. I wanted to talk about the money before we drove the car. Did I have to be firm about it for them to comply? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes. Because we managed the process we were able to visit five dealerships on one Saturday, decide on Monday and get the car Wednesday. Did we eventually drive the cars before we chose? Sure, but only after agreeing on the financial criteria.
3. Do your research as you go. It’s easy to get stuck in the planning phase of a big decision and never make a move. In the case of the car, we chose five manufacturers that had good reputations and that offered cars that we thought were in our price category. After we knew the details of the lease deals, we narrowed it down to three possible cars.

   We were then able to quickly do research on the internet regarding the safety and quality of each car (we disqualified one immediately). At that point, we picked our favorite and have been happy ever since.

When you’re making big decisions for your business, follow these simple steps and make sure you don’t get “taken for a ride!”