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I work for a furniture manufacturer. I had a SC call me up asking for a custom piece. In this case, the SC is not a normal customer, but they are one of our reps. They are the head person (i.e. his name is over the door) at his firm. I got the details and told him that I would get the quote done. Here is the conversation:
SC: I need that quote now.
Me: I can’t do it now, it requires a quote from our vendor and they take 2-3 days to quote things.
SC: I called you to get a quote, I need it now.
Me: That is not possible.
SC: You are not understanding, I WILL have a price before I hang up the phone.
Me: No, you are not understanding. I can not give you a quote without knowing what it is going to cost me to make.
SC: How much is it going to be?
Me: Somewhere about $300.
SC: Good, put that in writing.
Me: I can’t. That was an educated guess. I can’t quote it to you without a vendor quote. I can make a guess that you can take as a guess.
SC: Look, when I say I’m not hanging up without a price, I mean it. I need that price in the next 10 minutes.
Me: Fine. I am not willing to gamble with my company’s money, so I have to guess higher than it could possibly be. I will not take a risk with my profit margin just because you are impatient. If you need a quote now, the price is $1000.
SC: $1000, that is ridiculous.
Me: Your right, but so is demanding something that I can not give you. I am more than willing to get a quote done for you, but it will be 2-3 days.
SC: FINE! Just write me the quote in the next 10 minutes!(click)
I do not deserve to be talked to like that, so I told my boss what I was doing and wrote him a Quote that minute for $1000. I sent a cover sheet describing that it was so expensive because I refused to guess low. I got the quote from my vendor 2 days later, and wrote the SC a quote for $325.
A month goes by. We get a Purchase Order from the SC for the custom piece…with the price $1000.
I called his assistant and asked. She said that he was so mad, when I sent the revised quote in he threw it away without reading it.
Gotta love an extra $675 pure profit on an item that retailed for $375.
SC: I need that quote now.
Me: I can’t do it now, it requires a quote from our vendor and they take 2-3 days to quote things.
SC: I called you to get a quote, I need it now.
Me: That is not possible.
SC: You are not understanding, I WILL have a price before I hang up the phone.
Me: No, you are not understanding. I can not give you a quote without knowing what it is going to cost me to make.
SC: How much is it going to be?
Me: Somewhere about $300.
SC: Good, put that in writing.
Me: I can’t. That was an educated guess. I can’t quote it to you without a vendor quote. I can make a guess that you can take as a guess.
SC: Look, when I say I’m not hanging up without a price, I mean it. I need that price in the next 10 minutes.
Me: Fine. I am not willing to gamble with my company’s money, so I have to guess higher than it could possibly be. I will not take a risk with my profit margin just because you are impatient. If you need a quote now, the price is $1000.
SC: $1000, that is ridiculous.
Me: Your right, but so is demanding something that I can not give you. I am more than willing to get a quote done for you, but it will be 2-3 days.
SC: FINE! Just write me the quote in the next 10 minutes!(click)
I do not deserve to be talked to like that, so I told my boss what I was doing and wrote him a Quote that minute for $1000. I sent a cover sheet describing that it was so expensive because I refused to guess low. I got the quote from my vendor 2 days later, and wrote the SC a quote for $325.
A month goes by. We get a Purchase Order from the SC for the custom piece…with the price $1000.
I called his assistant and asked. She said that he was so mad, when I sent the revised quote in he threw it away without reading it.
Gotta love an extra $675 pure profit on an item that retailed for $375.
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