Dealing with Vendors (Too Snarky?)
There is a vendor trying to sell me on their services, and I like what I can see of some of their services. Below is an email exchange between myself and the vendor. The names of the sales reps and the vendor have been changed for comedic effect.
The vendor writes:
From: Bugs Bunny [mailto:BBUNNY@ANVILS.COM]
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 1:04 PM
To: David Rothman
Subject: Anvil's journal spreadsheetDavid,
If you have already received this from Daffy Duck, I apologize, but in a separate email I’m sending the comparison information. The thing to remember, our prices for current for the date it was done and your current vendor’s are probably 2005. Also, the faxed copy we were working from was a little hard to read in some instances.
Let me know if you have any questions about our quote.
Regards,
Bugs Bunny
Sales Representative
Anvil Services
BBunny@anvils.com
David Replies:
From: David Rothman
Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 1:35 PM
To: ‘Bugs Bunny’
Cc: 'DDUCK@ANVILS.COM’
Subject: RE: Anvil's journal spreadsheetHi Bugs-
Yes, I did receive this information from Daffy Duck on the 19th (please see attached email). Also, Daffy and I spoke face-to-face about it last week when he stopped by Community General unannounced and unanticipated.
I would be very grateful if you might imagine yourself in my shoes for a moment and consider the following.
I have more to do today than I have time to do, but the little red light on my phone says I have voicemail, and it might be from a doctor who needs a journal article immediately in order to treat his patient effectively and safely, so I drop the four other tasks I’m juggling to check the voicemail.
I spend a few minutes accessing my voicemail (through those touch-tone m menus we all hate), listening to it, making notes on it, and, after having spent this time, find the exact same information in my email inbox 5 minutes later. Then, to compound the loss of my productive time, both the voicemail and the email were unnecessary- because two people at the same vendor didn’t stop to confer with each other on the status of the account before interrupting the prospective client’s day two more times.
I’m sure you can imagine how this might be frustrating.
I am excited to learn of new technologies or cost-saving services available to my organization. I have, in fact, already brought this information to my hospital’s director of knowledge services to discuss switching to your organization as our vendor for subscription services. If you and Daffy could please coordinate among yourselves before contacting me, and contact me exclusively through email, I’d be very grateful. If phone calls or personal visits are called for, we can arrange for them in advance.
These things would help me manage my time more effectively, and leave me more time for evaluating and recommending your company’s fine products.
Your consideration in this manner will be sincerely appreciated.
Best,
-David
I know that vendor sales reps walk a difficult line between persistence and peskiness. Can I get a Snarkometer consensus rating? Too snarky? Not snarky enough? Just the right amount of snark? What problems do you have with vendors, and do you reccommend any particular strategies/resources for librarians-in-training?
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