We’ve always heard the old saying, “When you assume, you make an ass out of YOU and ME.” Well, it’s true, and I’ve seldom seen a better example of this than last week.
I was in a situation where I was the customer (actually trade show attendee), and the person in the booth ASSUMED. He didn’t make an ass out of me, but he definitely made one of himself, and therein lies a lesson.
As a bit of background, I do have a side business interest that coincides with my hobby of old and fast cars. I have an online business that sells parts and accessories on a dropship basis, and last week was the occasion of the largest automotive aftermarket show in the world. If you’re guessing that I was having a good time, you’re right – checking out high-end show cars, networking with vendors and suppliers, etc. My good time was spoiled – temporarily – by a vendor, however, and amazingly enough, it was one that I had thought that I had a great relationship with.
This particular vendor representative works for a company that supplies automotive suspension components. I’ve known him for over a decade (although most of that time was in my former capacity as a freelance motorsports writer – another part time hobby that I’ve had to give up due to time constraints). I’ve done favors for him; he’s done favors for me. As the comedian Ron White would say, “We’ve met.” As I approached the booth, I was a little proud. I’ve sold over $10,000 of his product in the last year, and considering that the average price point is $20 per item, that’s a lot of merchandise. However, I hadn’t talked to him since I started this particular business (I buy through a warehouse), so I figured this would be a fun conversation. I was wrong.
I greeted John, and started to tell him about my business. As soon as I said “dot-com,” he rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, good grief, you’re one of those Internet guys!” I was taken aback.
“So,” I said, “You’re complaining that I sold over $10,000 of your stuff this year?” Now he looked like he wanted to hide under the table. He realized that I was a vendor – and a quality one – and that he’d just angered a guy who was not only a friend (or at least I thought I was), but someone who was moving his products.
He quickly explained that he, along with most manufacturers, were overrun at shows like this one with people who had Internet sites, didn’t sell much, but wanted to buy his products direct and drop-ship using his inventory. Most of them really just wanted to buy at a discount for themselves. I asked him, “So, despite our long relationship, you just assumed that I was one of those guys, without even asking a question or two?”
Again, he looked like he wished that he was pretty much anyplace else. I could have dropped into sales trainer mode and shown him a couple of quick questions he could ask to qualify prospects and save himself from these situations. But, to be honest, I didn’t care to. I was pretty angry and offended. He tried a couple more times to recover, and he did – at least in his own mind.
He didn’t recover in my mind. When I got back to my hotel, I made my listings for his product inactive, and uploaded a competitor’s (in the few days since the show, I’ve made some sales of his competitor’s products). As a result, he’s lost sales – by ASSUMING.
I could spend another 2,000 words on the various ways that salespeople ASSUME things that get them into trouble. Instead, I’d like to just ask you to apply a simple rule. There are two words that start exactly the same way; one can get you into trouble and one can make you money.
Instead of ASSUMING, ASK. A quick question or two can usually give you a framework for a conversation.
Will I re-activate his product listings on my site? Probably. They are the standard of the industry in that particular line of business. However, I’m going to keep the competitive product up as well now; ultimately he’ll lose potential sales if not active sales (I, on the other hand, may gain). All because he ASSUMED. As I said, he made an ass out of himself.
