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On a referral, I called Rick, the account
executive, to make an appointment while I was in New York to learn if his
consulting firm could help our company. He suggested that we stop by his office at
noon, and he'd "work us in." Ten
minutes into the conversation, he threw up his hand to interrupt our explanation
of the potential project: "Excuse
me, I'm hungry. I'm gonna' get
Susan to order in lunch; do you mind?"
He picked up the phone, placed his order
with his administrative assistant, and then covered the receiver, "You want
her to bring you something too?" Twenty
minutes later, his deli sandwich and
pickles arrived, and he ate his lunch while we watched. For several reasons, we decided not to work
with him on the project. But we
kept hearing rumors that his company is really good at what they do. So, two years later, we investigated his services again.
I called the main number and left a message that I had another potential
project to discuss. Two days later I received a phone call from Rick,
"investigating" what I wanted. I
told him. He handed me off to Susan who, he promised,
would phone me later in the day. Susan
never called. Two weeks later, I phone Rick again.
"Susan didn't call?" Rick probed.
"She must be busy; I'll put together a quote for you myself by March
31." The quote arrived
mid-April. It was boilerplate,
which confirmed that he'd listened to nothing I'd told him about the project.
I awarded the contract to his competitor. In May, Rick called to "follow
up," saying he'd be in town and wanted to drop by to discuss the project. "You've already made a decision, huh?"
Rick didn't seem too upset about the prize going to the competitor.
"Better late than never. Catch
you next time." Two years later, the same comments from
mutual colleagues: "But
they're really good at what they do." I tried for a third time to do
business with the firm. This time I got the CEO on the phone.
I gave him my name and overviewed the project.
His response: "Sounds
good. Send me your stuff, and I'll take a look."
I sent it. He faxed a
contract for me to sign, asking full payment upfront.
I phoned and got his administrative assistant.
"Do you typically ask for full payment upfront?" "No," she said,
"I don't know why Rick did that.
I'll have him call." He
called. I protested.
He recanted. "OK, I know you.
Just cross that part out." (He
"knew" me from the earlier two failed attempts.) I signed and faxed his contract back to him
with a completion date of one month. At
the 2-week point, I'd heard no further word from him. I called Rick for a status report. Laura returned the call to tell me Rick had handed off the
project to her. One week later, I
phone Laura for a status report. She's
vague but "working on it." I
phone Rick to discuss my dissatisfaction. He
never returns the call. Laura calls
the night before the due date to say she'd be overnighting the work to me. The work is delivered on the agreed upon
date, and it meets the minimum standards. The
invoice arrives before the thank-you letter or call. An atypical story?
I don't think so. They're a
$40 million company, and some people think they're really good at what they do.
But Rick broke every rule in the book, and most businesses wouldn't
survive with that kind of nonchalance (not when competitors flood the field,
when dissatisfied customers talk, when buyers demand more). Being "really good" at the core
business can take companies only so far. Proper
sales etiquette, though, is a quality that never goes out of style.
January 2002 Issue |
