So, this is going on right this moment, and I'm listening to one side of it, with the computer records on our end to peruse.
We have a customer that has two separate companies operating out of the same building with the same personnel with all of the same contact information.
They came in as Company X for a quote, yesterday, for 700 pieces of an item, which our veteran salesguy (VS) gave a competitive price on.
The customer, thinking they're slick, place the order as Company Z, placing the order at the lower quantity with the lower price.
Nice try.
So, now, Mister Slick is on the phone, harassing VS trying to get him to lower the price. VS isn't having any of it. He is explaining, repeatedly, how he came to that price in the first place, and why the order will not be going out at the lower price with the lower quantity.
Mister Slick is claiming that he can get the parts for half the cost from another source (why is he even talking to us, then?) to which VS says, "if you can fax us a copy of the quote, I can get it to my product manager, and we can adjust our pricing based on that." Needless to say, no fax is expected, because the quote (if it even exists) is on a higher quantity with a lead time on a part the customer needs to have sooner because there's a very high likelihood that they already sold to someone else.
Then Mister Slick tries to say that he prefers talking to another of the salespeople instead of VS because that other salesperson always gives him much better pricing, so he's always buying from her. First, that's not even remotely true. He (and his fellow Co X purchasing critters) pull the same stunts with her and the other salesperson. See, they all know this because they talk to each other. Plus, we can see the sales versus quotes in the system.
So, VS shoots down all of Mister Slick's arguments as to why we should be giving away parts to him and tells him to call back when he can ok the full quantity (or at 500 pieces, which is where the price break hits), or the higher price for the lower quantity.
In the meantime, I'm over here at my desk checking up on Company Z because I want to see what sort of information I can provide to help VS with further smackdown. Lo and behold! They owe us money! Not a lot, but not a small amount, either. Some of these invoices are from August. And their last payment was in October. And their A/P guy has not responded to several voice mails left for him, except the one time that the receptionist refused to transfer our dunning person to his voice mail!
Oopsie! Looks like Company Z (and Company X) is now on Credit Hold pending payment of their past due invoices! If they'd just kept on keeping on, our dunning clerk would likely have let them keep on racking up the debt for another couple of months before putting a stop to their shenanigans.
So, Other Salesperson took a moment to contact one of Company Z's buyers that isn't as much of a weasel and let them know that we've gone and put them on Hold. She also leaves a message for Company Z A/P to let them know the same. And, I've gone and emailed over a copy of their current statement as well, because having something in writing is always great for nailing these idiots.
Poor Mister Slick is going to have quite the surprise if he should manage to pull his head out of his ass and call back to try to get those parts at what likely happens to be the best price in town. Most likely, he'll just send a revised PO, like the rest of the weasels who try to lie their way to a lower price.
^-.-^
We have a customer that has two separate companies operating out of the same building with the same personnel with all of the same contact information.
They came in as Company X for a quote, yesterday, for 700 pieces of an item, which our veteran salesguy (VS) gave a competitive price on.
The customer, thinking they're slick, place the order as Company Z, placing the order at the lower quantity with the lower price.
Nice try.
So, now, Mister Slick is on the phone, harassing VS trying to get him to lower the price. VS isn't having any of it. He is explaining, repeatedly, how he came to that price in the first place, and why the order will not be going out at the lower price with the lower quantity.
Mister Slick is claiming that he can get the parts for half the cost from another source (why is he even talking to us, then?) to which VS says, "if you can fax us a copy of the quote, I can get it to my product manager, and we can adjust our pricing based on that." Needless to say, no fax is expected, because the quote (if it even exists) is on a higher quantity with a lead time on a part the customer needs to have sooner because there's a very high likelihood that they already sold to someone else.
Then Mister Slick tries to say that he prefers talking to another of the salespeople instead of VS because that other salesperson always gives him much better pricing, so he's always buying from her. First, that's not even remotely true. He (and his fellow Co X purchasing critters) pull the same stunts with her and the other salesperson. See, they all know this because they talk to each other. Plus, we can see the sales versus quotes in the system.
So, VS shoots down all of Mister Slick's arguments as to why we should be giving away parts to him and tells him to call back when he can ok the full quantity (or at 500 pieces, which is where the price break hits), or the higher price for the lower quantity.
In the meantime, I'm over here at my desk checking up on Company Z because I want to see what sort of information I can provide to help VS with further smackdown. Lo and behold! They owe us money! Not a lot, but not a small amount, either. Some of these invoices are from August. And their last payment was in October. And their A/P guy has not responded to several voice mails left for him, except the one time that the receptionist refused to transfer our dunning person to his voice mail!
Oopsie! Looks like Company Z (and Company X) is now on Credit Hold pending payment of their past due invoices! If they'd just kept on keeping on, our dunning clerk would likely have let them keep on racking up the debt for another couple of months before putting a stop to their shenanigans.
So, Other Salesperson took a moment to contact one of Company Z's buyers that isn't as much of a weasel and let them know that we've gone and put them on Hold. She also leaves a message for Company Z A/P to let them know the same. And, I've gone and emailed over a copy of their current statement as well, because having something in writing is always great for nailing these idiots.
Poor Mister Slick is going to have quite the surprise if he should manage to pull his head out of his ass and call back to try to get those parts at what likely happens to be the best price in town. Most likely, he'll just send a revised PO, like the rest of the weasels who try to lie their way to a lower price.
^-.-^
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