Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN YOUR RESPONSE?

As you all know I sell ECO parts.

I just got a phone call that went something like this.

"So and so (who also sells ECO parts) told me to call you, I have a question, I need to know something so I can purchase parts from so and so."

What my response was doesn't matter, but if anyone wants to know what it was, I will post it, I just want to know what your response would have been.

Jack Sim

Well, ask so and so your question?

my response:

"Hey - that's great...in this economy he's sending customers to me! I'll have to thank him...now, please tell me what your question is, your address, and I'll get you a total. Oh, you don't want to buy anything? Sorry, I'm running a business here - you want The Shell Answer Man, and I don't have his number handy. Please call back when you'd like to buy something."

...click...

Pretty ballsy to call you, ask that you answer questions that your competitor can't. All so the caller can buy items/parts from your competitor.

Like Ryan said, "ask so and so the question". If they don't have the answer and I do, why are you buying items from them?

This has been a growing trend over the years. Buy from the place with the cheapest price, but still expect to get free expert advice and service from the place you didn't buy from.

I saw this happen where I used to work. The company had our current supplier demonstrate a new style MIG welder in our shop. They wound up buying the same welder from a guy who never set foot in our place just to save a few bucks. They never went back to the first guy to see if he would match the price. Then when we had a problem later, they called the first guy for help with diagnosis over the phone. He said to talk to the guy you bought from. :P

I would say I charge $5 per minute. Can I have your address So I can send you a bill? Oh yea and by the way BUY MY BOOK!

It is amazing what people do to save a few bucks. I would rather pay a few extra dollars for a quality product- and deal with a person who knows about what they are selling!!!

This sounds like the New Value Forum!
"I sell everything I get & don't want to over pay for this item"

We have people calling all the time asking how to install thier automatic gate. I try to be nice and evasive with their question. I make sure to get their address so I can keep them safe by making sure they have an electrical permit. On the flip side I try not to let money get in the way of morals on my personal dealings. I try to buy localy even if it cost a little more. If I am questioning my something in my business I will call a gate company from a far away town and state and introduce myself and ask them if I can ask a business question.

I know how everyone feels about an instance like this but think for a minute!
There is no reason to be angry or flippant with your response to the individual as this will only cause to alienate him furthur! A brief explanation of the business that you're in(Eco parts) and that you welcome calls from your customers should point him in the right direction but you can also add that you're unable to field questions for the competitor, as you're not on their payroll. Follow that up with a sales pitch on the benefits derived from buying the parts from you and you will have possibly converted a potential customer that will spread the word to others!
Treat the ignorant customer with a little courtesy and you gain his business---treat him like he's the ignorant SOB thats bothering you , and you lose his business and possibly others! JM2C

I just had a similar experience to Jack's. The customer called and told me that he was missing a part. I checked the old invoices and realized that he had not ordered the part in question.
He insisted that he HAD and explained that he had a CD in his hand that he got from me if he spent a certain amount of money.
I told him that I did not offer that CD and did not have a policy like that! He basically refused to listen... After nearly five minutes on the phone he STILL didn't realize that he had bought parts from two different vendors...
I believe his age MAY have been a factor...

CRS, LOL

I guess it depends on how busy I was. If I was extremely busy running a profitable business I probably woulnd't make a whole lot of time.

If I was older and semi retired and had the time, I would probably accomodate him.

Bottom line, anytime the phone rings it's a potential customer, if not now, at least maybe up the road a bit.

...huh...you mean anytime the phone rings it's a potential unsolicited sales call...

I work for a heavy equipment dealership....
When I get those kind of "fishing" calls it goes like so....
Well lets see here.... hmmmnnn o.k. ah here it is.. what you will need to get is part number BR549.
Thanks for calling!
Click
I know kindo' cruel

...if you really want to have fun with the 'repeat offenders', interrupt them with (in a high-pitched voice):

"DADDY? IS THAT YOU? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, DADDY, MOMMY'S CRYING ALL THE TIME...PLEASE COME HOME DADDY!!"

...or give them a pizza/Chinese food order...this works especially well if you have Caller ID and can see that they are just cold calling...you can just pick up and start ordering...

Kevin, that is easy to say, hard to act upon. Try getting 100 plus phone calls and emails a week just wanting information and let me know how you feel after a couple of years of that. Im guessing you will think differently.

just last night i had a guy i do work for once in a great while call me and say"i have a friend who does heating and i wonder if i can have him call you,as he cannot figure out what is wrong with a furnace he is working on" told him"sorry,but you can have me come out and fix it"he hung up on me.found out today thats why this guy only calls me sometimes,cause his buddy is doing his work now.many times over a year i will give advice over the phone,and 9 times out of ten that person will call me when they have a more serious problem.

Jack , i would have immediately tried to close the deal & built value around your business & experience, and made that point very clear,"so & so" your dealing with a veteran & not to sound egotistical but wouldn't you rather deal with a guy that has decades of hands on experience & published books around this stuff!Or deal with a fly by night who's not "ECO"educated or prepared to deal with ECO part orders!I would have set him up with any literature you had available on his ECO & offered him a autographed copy of your book and closed the deal!

oh & i would call "so & so" up and offer him a autographed copy of your book too, and the same literature so he could brush up on his parts that he doesn't know much about!

Any kind of parts business you have to be knowledgeable about your stock! THERE IS NOTHING WORST THAN NEEDING A PART ,FINDING IT,THEN IT SHOWS UP & ITS NOT THE RIGHT PIECE!

GOOD LUCK JACK!

I think everyone here has valid points. I think we all have to look at this situation from "Jack's" point of view. We all know he is very busy. I am sure he gets many calls and emails from people asking questions about meters all the time. Do I think it's right that someone called him asking a question- then buys the part somewhere else? Not at all. You can try to gain a persons business by being nice. That work's sometimes. Every time I have asked Jack a question or purchased an item he has always been to the point and helpful. If I was in his position I would ask the person "Why are you buying a part from someone who can't help you?. Get the customers feedback first before giving out info. I worked at a car dealer in service a while back. I would get customer's asking me what the code means for their check engine light. I would be nice and say bring in it let us check it out and FIX IT RIGHT instead of replacing parts. It all matters what your motive is. If your looking to build a business or just doing it as a hobby. Since the demand for these meters has gone up recently, Jack is only one person and can handle so much(He does a great job responding to my emails).
Just my 2cents

Most of my reply was:
KW: Like yours.
Ron: I think we were talking to the same customer

And a little bit of the rest.

Actually I told him my goal for the day was to make a dollar, and if he wasn't going to spend any money with me, my time would be better spent looking for someone with that dollar. Then I gave him my website address.

57tbird:
Your statement:

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest"
Benjamin Franklin-

is the greatest, wish I had seen it before you did.

Jack

I've been in the retail business longer than I care to remember.Jack asked for a response.Mine would have been,"I don't know the quality of a competitors product,so I really don't feel comfortable answering your question because I don't know whwther his stuff will work or not.Ask him.

I've had to field 40-50 calls a day,at times,so my tolerance for helping a competitor is somewhat limited.As to closing the sale?Not worth the effort or loss of professional advice in this case IMO.

Great line, Jack!

I would have to say this is about as smart as a business owner could be in this situation. Well said.

On the flip side, If your rude to him, he will NEVER become your customer.

I am from a Family Oil Business, for years people would call for Oil Burner Service, the first thing my brother would ask is who do you buy oil from, when they said I buy from XXXX Co. he will say, We only work on our own customers Boilers, End of conversation!
That always drove me crazy, because when it was time for that Customer to find another Oil Co., you can be sure they will NOT call us.

11 years ago I started my own Heating Service, I often get calls from people who are questioning their Service guy, It is frustrating, but I will sometimes spend 30 minutes on the phone with someone who already has a Heating guy. Very often it will pay off as when another trouble arises, they ALWAYS remember how helpful I was to them when I had nothing to gain and call me to be their new guy. I am a little too soft sometime, but I find it hard to say no.

I know how you feel, being a plumber I make alot or repairs over the phone but the ones that bother me the most is the person who ask my opinion and then tries to tell me how it should be done.about 5 years ago my friend was building a house and he did not want me to plumb it because his builder needed to use his own guy(because he did it cheap) I went over to look at the job when he asked me too and the plumber had used type M cooper.I told him it would not last.He said thats what they always use.Well last year he started getting pinholes in his hot water pipe and had the nerve to ask me to fix it.

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. While my response may not have been the best thing to say, I did not feel bad after saying it.
I am working on a $3000 ECO deal, and I felt my time was better served making sure this customer was taken care of.

And I'm trying to get this d Kindle I bought to work, technology is going so fast I can't keep up.

Jack

jack if you have problems with it i might be able to help.

Interesting topic. Probably depends on the person's perspective receiving the call. My cousin runs his own small engine repair business (cycles, snowmobiles,.. - also sells parts). The nicest guy you would ever want to meet. When he had first started out he used to help anyone that called - just that kind of guy. Then he hit his limit after the nth caller. Turns out he had a growing reputation - buy the parts cheap as you can find them elsewhere then call him and he will help you with any questions. Now he just nicely declines. His perspective had changed.