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A story I posted in the SC forum about a "customer" who objected to having a limit on her free trial unearthed this memory from many years ago.
At the time I worked in a research lab. We periodically had sales people from equipment and supply companies stop in. They usually had enough sense to drop off a price list/samples, offer to answer any questions and leave.
This particular story involves a sales man who was too desperate for his own good...
A colleague, I'm going to call Jim, in a neighboring lab had to run some samples through a very expensive piece of equipment [I honestly don't remember what it was or what the samples were; the important thing is that the equipment was expensive and Jim needed it for his work].
So Jim called the company and expressed his interest in buying this machine. It didn't take long for the company to send over a sales rep., who I'm going to call Ray. Ray enthusiastically arranged for a demonstration where the machine was installed in the lab for Jim to try for a week.
At the end of the week, Ray returned to pick up the demo unit and asked Jim for his feedback. Jim expressed doubts about whether the machine would work and asked for another week "just to be sure."
Ray checked with his company and they authorized it for another week, but then it had to go back so they could demonstrate it to other potential customers.
Sure enough, at the end of the second week, Jim still "wasn't sure." But Ray did have to take the machine back. Jim argued about it, but Ray had no choice and took it away.
Now Jim had no machine, but still needed his samples run. So he called Ray and told him was "pretty close" to making a decision. Did Ray's company have a unit of the machine in-house? Ray said that they did.
Then Jim asked Ray to run his sample for him on the in-house machine and send him the printout "just to see" if that was really the equipment he wanted.
Ray agreed. That time...and 15 subsequent times.
There was no 16th time because Jim's experiment was complete.
To no-ones surprise but Ray's, Ray did not make that sale.
I know this story because Jim went around bragging about it to everyone after the fact.
Jim is a jerk.
At the time I worked in a research lab. We periodically had sales people from equipment and supply companies stop in. They usually had enough sense to drop off a price list/samples, offer to answer any questions and leave.
This particular story involves a sales man who was too desperate for his own good...
A colleague, I'm going to call Jim, in a neighboring lab had to run some samples through a very expensive piece of equipment [I honestly don't remember what it was or what the samples were; the important thing is that the equipment was expensive and Jim needed it for his work].
So Jim called the company and expressed his interest in buying this machine. It didn't take long for the company to send over a sales rep., who I'm going to call Ray. Ray enthusiastically arranged for a demonstration where the machine was installed in the lab for Jim to try for a week.
At the end of the week, Ray returned to pick up the demo unit and asked Jim for his feedback. Jim expressed doubts about whether the machine would work and asked for another week "just to be sure."
Ray checked with his company and they authorized it for another week, but then it had to go back so they could demonstrate it to other potential customers.
Sure enough, at the end of the second week, Jim still "wasn't sure." But Ray did have to take the machine back. Jim argued about it, but Ray had no choice and took it away.
Now Jim had no machine, but still needed his samples run. So he called Ray and told him was "pretty close" to making a decision. Did Ray's company have a unit of the machine in-house? Ray said that they did.
Then Jim asked Ray to run his sample for him on the in-house machine and send him the printout "just to see" if that was really the equipment he wanted.
Ray agreed. That time...and 15 subsequent times.
There was no 16th time because Jim's experiment was complete.
To no-ones surprise but Ray's, Ray did not make that sale.
I know this story because Jim went around bragging about it to everyone after the fact.
Jim is a jerk.
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