When dealing with your customers do not waste their time, there are way to many sales people that need to learn that lesson. You are not managing your accounts you are creating and hopefully growing a positive relationship with a customer that will generate loyalty, helpful feed back, stabilizing your client base and increasing sales. So do not go in to a meeting without basic information that any client would need or want. I had a salesman come in last week to talk about our business and any potential new chemicals we might be looking into from and R&D stand point. When I asked about several of our chemicals and a current price list he did not have it. When I asked about a list of containers that his company showed we had on sight that I could use as a cross reference (a list I have been asking about for over a month) he did not have it. When asked if he had a current catalog or a chemical list of items his company distributed he did not have it. Now I would like to say this was a new salesman but he has been on the job for well over two years at least. This did not do very much for watering the garden and growing our relationship, and it did nothing in the way of growing his business. As a matter of fact I hate to say it but I was like the Soup Nazi in that Seinfeld episode when I basically told him “No order for you, get out”.
Well I did a little more than that, since I have know him for over two years I came straight out and told him that I have never seen a sales person that had no product list for the company, no price list of current items a customer buys and take over a month to get a simple list that is on a weekly print out (his own words) that he sees every Wednesday. Then he had the never to ask what price I was quoted and paying for a particular product from one of his competitors. At which time I questioned his mental capacity and told him that would be unethical and he needed to leave.
What a way to ruin a customer relationship, and now after a call to the regional director which was my previous sales rep from this company I have to talk with this gentleman’s replacement next week.
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