This actually happened today

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 3:15 PM, [redacted sales guy] wrote:

Jon are you serious about moving forward with a [marketing service I inquired about]?  Are you wasting our time or did you have a serious need that we can help with.   

My response:

Woah [redacted sales guy], hold on a second with the  "wasting our time" bit. I thought when I filled out the get-a-quote form that I identified some of the things I was looking for.  I appreciate the clarity of purpose and firm resolve you demonstrate on your follow through, but maybe this is a little stronger worded than you need it to be for a potential customer. 

 

That said, I operate a small B2B business for other small businesses. I am scoping on behalf of my own clients who are a [business type]. And I want to know the following four items: 

• [four questions about their marketing services, delivery, cost and reporting methods]

That'll do it. Now is that serious enough or should I give my clients the quotes I have from your competitors plus my margin?

 

Regards,

 

Jon Olsen

 

You're not going to believe this

He wrote back.

On Apr 22, 2009, at 4:13 PM, [redacted sales guy] wrote:

Well apparently it worked………..you finally responded. Oh and go ahead give them the other quotes, safe to assume your quoting [product] which we all know how well that works. As you know we are a [different flavor of product] and we choose who we work with not the other way around. Again if you are serious about discussing a partnership then let me know a good time to get on the the phone to discuss.

We may not be a match, hard to say. Thank you for the response.


my response

[redacted sales guy]!

It did work; you must say that to all the businesses! You are correct, I AM looking for [flavor of product he implied was bad] and I agree, we likely will not be a perfect match.

Your PPC guys must be going crazy. They have to hate it that leads who click their carefully made ads can't tell that it's [redacted company] who does the choosing, and not the other way around. Maybe they could reduce their spend, since the customer's shopping process is evidently immaterial. Once they learn the inside sales reps have eliminated the need for attracting customers, it should make budget negotiations much easier.

As requested, I'll keep your number. I can foresee a time when someone I work with insists I put on a nice suit, buy flowers, and beg you to take me back.

Best,
JonO

please God, make him write back...